LIVERMORE FALLS — Jay Frank L. Mitchell VFW Post 3335 will decorate Holy Cross Cemetery with Christmas wreaths supplied by Wreaths Across America.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, December 17, Post 3335 members and its auxiliary will perform a brief ceremony honoring veterans, and then lay wreaths on veterans headstones.
The public is invited to attend, and assist with laying of the wreaths.
Holy Cross cemetery will be one of over 3,400 cemeteries nationwide receiving wreaths this Christmas season, to remember the fallen, and honor those that serve, and their families.
“Post 3335 is thrilled to be one of the first local veterans organizations to receive wreaths for a local cemetery”, Post Judge Advocate Jim Manter said. “Through the efforts of our Auxiliary member Alice Robinson, and the generosity of local citizens, we will receive 55 wreaths to place on veterans graves.
“This is a first for us locally, and hope the awareness of this annual opportunity will grow larger over the next few years, and we can place a wreath on all of our veterans’ graves, same as we place flags on them for Memorial Day,” Manter explained. “Although 55 sounds like a lot of wreaths, we have 460 veterans interred at Holy Cross alone, and a total of over 1,598 veterans in all the cemeteries in Jay, Livermore, and Livermore Falls area.”
Holy Cross will be the 15th cemetery in Maine to decorate veterans’ graves with WAA support, Manter noted.
The wreaths were donated in conjunction with a Wreaths Across America [WAA] program that provides fundraising opportunities for its wreaths. Alice Robinson, the auxiliary chairperson for VFW Post 3335 chose WAA as her project. The post held a donation drive for the WAA program that provides one wreath locally for every two wreaths purchased for National veterans cemeteries.
Local citizens also banded together to make additional wreaths from scratch, Manter said. In addition, the Post is credited with raising funds for 66 wreaths that will be headed to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., he noted This year WAA will be making and providing for free over 2.6 million wreaths, he added.
WAA is located in Columbia Falls and was founded by Morrill Worcester.
Manter noted each local veterans organization will receive a wreath to place on their Posts’ namesake grave site: Frank L. Mitchell, VFW Post 3335; George Bunton American Legion Post 10; and Lane-Dube [David Lane/Andy Dube] AMVETS Post 33.
The wreath ceremony will take place at the gravesite of Frank L. Mitchell, the namesake for Post 3335. Mitchell, serving in the U.S. Army was killed in World War I. Local veterans, color guard, and honors team will participate.
The veteran’s wreath used in the Wreaths Across America program is a symbol of honor, respect and victory, Robinson said. Ten balsam bouquets make up each veteran’s wreath representing the 10 special qualities veterans embody:
• Their belief in a greater good
• Their love for each other
• Their strength, work ethic, and character
• Their honesty and integrity
• Their humility, selflessness and modesty
• Their ambitions and aspirations
• Their optimism for America
• Their concern for the future
• Their pride in their duties
• Their hopes and dreams that didn’t always come true, but left them with no regrets
The evergreens in the wreath represent longevity and endurance, the red bow great sacrifice, the forest scent purity and simplicity, and the circular shape eternity.
This year’s efforts were co-chaired by Robinson and Manter.
“One wreath can be purchased for $15 while two cost $30 with another one provided free,” Robinson noted. “We hope to make a lot more money to buy more wreaths next year.”
Robinson’s husband, son and grandson all served in the military. “I am proud to be in the auxiliary and working to support veterans,” she added.
For additional information on VFW Post 3335 Wreaths program or to support local fund raising efforts, please contact Manter/Robinson at the Post by calling 897-5112.
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