Wreathes Across America fund raiser

The FORT STANTON CEMETERY WREATHS LAYING CEREMONY WILL TAKE PLACE THIS YEAR.

For the last several years people in our community have donated money for the purchase of wreaths to be laid on the graves of veterans at the Fort Stanton Veterans Cemetery. This has been followed by volunteers coming together to lay the wreaths on the graves. These civic minded people led by Cecile Kinnan, the Spencer Theater ushers, the Fort Stanton Cemetery personnel and the Ruidoso Noon Lions Club are again asking for community help to purchase the wreaths and to lay them on the graves on Saturday December 18th at 9:00 a.m. Veterans have been interred at the Fort Stanton Cemetery for 117 years. It is an honor to recognize those who have given so much to our country. This is an active cemetery, so the number of wreaths needed for this project increases each year. Many cemeteries throughout the nation allow charitable organizations to take on this project as a fund raiser. The result is only those graves with purchased wreaths are decorated. It has been the successful goal of the volunteers for the Fort Stanton Veterans Cemetery wreath project to place a wreath on each veteran’s grave. This year 400 wreaths are needed.

This project is part of the “Wreaths Across America” program that was started in 1992 by Morrill Worcester when he placed wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery. He continued to quietly practice this tradition until 2005, when a picture of the wreaths on the graves went public. The result was volunteers stepping forward to honor veterans at other military cemeteries. The project reached Lincoln County, and volunteers from as far away as El Paso have joined local people yearly in placing the wreaths on the graves.

According to the “Wreaths Across America” website: “In 2008, over 300 locations held wreath-laying ceremonies in every state, Puerto Rico and 24 overseas cemeteries. Over 100,000 wreaths were placed on veterans’ graves. Over 60,000 volunteers participated. And that year, December 13, 2008 was unanimously voted by the US Congress as ‘Wreaths Across America Day’.”

“In 2014, ‘Wreaths Across America’ and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond, including ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, as well as Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites of the September 11 tragedies.” Lincoln County is part of this great national project, and we need the support of its people to continue.

The funds must be gathered by November 27, 2021 to meet the deadline for ordering. Tax deductible checks can be made out to Ruidoso Noon Lions Club and mailed to PO Box 1130, Ruidoso, NM 88355, Atten: Treasurer Don Fowler. As little as $15 would allow you to adopt one veteran’s grave. Any amount would be appreciated and used solely for the purchase of the wreaths. Please indicate on the check that the funds are for the Fort Stanton Wreaths Across America project.

Individuals who have family members buried in the cemetery may place a wreath on the specific grave.

In addition to the donated wreaths for the Fort Stanton Veterans Cemetery, this year individuals and organizations may also purchase wreaths for veterans’ graves at other cemeteries. It is not possible at this time to recruit enough volunteers to lay wreaths at every cemetery in Lincoln County, so the wreaths for graves not at Fort Stanton must be pre-paid by November 27, 2021, and they must be picked up at Fort Stanton Veterans Cemetery the morning of December 18th. The price for these pre-paid wreaths is the same ($15). Please contact Cecile Kinnan, 336-9157, for a non-Fort Stanton order form.

The hope is that individuals, businesses, civic organizations, and veterans’ groups will step forward to support the purchase of the wreaths.

The requirements set forth by county health officials relating to the COVID-19 pandemic will be closely monitored.