Braving cool and rainy weather Saturday, local veterans and residents took part in the first ever holiday wreath laying ceremony held at Union Cemetery in Altamont as part of National Wreaths Across America Day.
Wreaths Across America is a 501©(3) organization founded by Morrill Worcester, the company that produces the wreaths the organization places on the graves of Veterans throughout the United States.
Among the residents attending the ceremony and placing wreaths at the headstones of local veterans were members of Altamont American Legion Post 512 and the Post 512 Auxiliary.
“Being the first year, we’re seeing how it catches on,” Post 512 Chaplain Ralph Rounds said.
Rounds coordinated the event and said he approached his fellow legion members about getting involved in Wreaths Across America after struggling to have wreaths placed on the graves of some of his relatives.
“They’re a charitable organization,” Rounds said regarding Wreaths Across America. “I tried to get a wreath put on my grandpa’s grave in Wisconsin and my father-in-laws grave in northern Illinois, and I found out I couldn’t do it because the cemeteries didn’t have a sponsor or a coordinator.”
Rounds decided that if he couldn’t honor his relatives by placing wreaths on their graves, he would make sure that the veterans from his community receive the recognition they deserved during the holidays for their sacrifices.
“I can’t do anything for those guys, but at least I can do something here,” Rounds said. “They deserve the recognition.”
Rounds noted that his Post also places flags in the cemetery every year on Memorial Day.
In addition to the help the organization receives from local veterans like Rounds, there are truck drivers who assist in the transportation of the wreaths.
One of these truck drivers, Brian Winkle of Altamont, works as a driver for Fritz Krampe Enterprises LLC and helped place wreaths at graves.
“Three years I ago, I started trying to get where we could deliver wreaths, so I myself did Nebraska,” Winkle said.
Wreath Across America, at no cost, provided Union Cemetery with eight wreaths displaying the flags of the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, National Guard, Coast Guard, Merchant Marines and the flag recognizing Veterans who have been declared missing in action and prisoners of war.
These eight wreaths were placed by the Altamont Veterans Memorial, and, in total, 24 wreaths were placed throughout the cemetery Saturday.
Rounds said there are about 250 veteran graves in Union Cemetery, and he and Winkle both hope to someday be able to place wreaths on all of them.
“With a little bit of community support, we can get them all covered,” Winkle said.
Two of the wreaths placed in the cemetery this year were sponsored by the Post 512 Auxiliary.
Rounds’ wife, Diane Rounds, is the Post Auxiliary president, and she also helped place wreaths on graves.
Also in attendance was Post 512 member Bill Wending, who is also the Post’s only World War II veteran and was among the first members of the Post.
“I’m the only one,” Wendling said.
As he spoke to those in attendance Saturday, Rounds highlighted the importance of giving Veterans the recognition they deserve.
“All of this is to recognize our veterans during the Christmas season more than anything else,” Rounds said. “One of the hardest things is getting something off the ground. We’re gonna do this for Altamont.”
Following a prayer led by Ralph Rounds and the playing of Taps by Judy Burrow of Altamont, everyone at the cemetery took a bundle of wreaths and placed them each at the appropriate headstones.
Anyone interested in sponsoring one or more wreaths can visit Wreaths Across America’s website at wreathsacrossamerica.org.
Each wreath costs $17, and Rounds said sponsors can also choose the specific grave where they’d like to have a wreath placed by finding the cemetery they are looking for on the organization’s website.
Union Cemetery can be found on the website under “ILUNCT.”