The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
FULFILLING THEIR MISSION
DAR chapter to lead Wreaths Across America effort at cemetery
More than 900 wreaths to be placed at Resthaven Memorial Gardens on Dec. 18
A national initiative to honor veterans is being implemented in Lorain County.
Wreaths Across America‘s mission is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach the next generation about the value of freedom. The Lorain County Nathan Perry Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution is upholding that mission in Avon.
On Dec. 14 the chapter received 927 wreaths from Maine in 103, 40-pound boxes by Continental Express to place in Resthaven Memory Gardens.
Resthaven employees, volunteers from North Ridgeville VFW and Avon Xtreme Performance auto repair shop, and others throughout the community assisted in unloading the truck.
On Dec. 18, Wreaths Across America Day, volunteers are encouraged to participate in the national memorial ceremony and assist in the wreath placement.
The wreaths will be placed on veterans’ burial sites at Resthaven Memory Gardens, 3700 Center Road, Avon.
Nathan Perry Chapter Regent Robbie Brown said the ceremony will be conducted throughout the country simultaneously.
“All across the country at noon the service will start,” said Nathan Perry Chapter member Julie Limpach. “The ceremony will begin promptly and be around 20 minutes long.”
Volunteers are encouraged to arrive between 11:30 and 11:45 a.m.
Resthaven Memory Gardens Sales Manager Stefanie Lombardo said they were the first cemetery in Ohio to accept veteran benefits.
“The Garden of Four Chaplains was set up before Ohio had a national military cemetery,” she said. “Since veterans couldn’t use their military benefits anywhere in Ohio, Resthaven set the garden up and registered to accept their benefits so they could hopefully be buried around their family.”
Lombardo said the Garden of Four Chaplains has a large number of veterans.
“At least half of the garden is for veterans and their families,” she said. “We don’t have an exact account, but we know there are over 700 veterans in the garden and hundreds more” are throughout the mausoleums and other gardens.
Brown said this is the first year the Nathan Perry chapter has largely undertaken Wreaths Across America.
“We’ve done it in the past on a smaller level, but this is the first year we have ever taken on an actual cemetery,” she said.
“When we decided to do this, it was a no-brainer as this is the only local cemetery that has a large section of veterans in one concentrated area.”
The annual wreath placement began with a shipment of 5,000 wreaths from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery in 1992.
In 2020, Wreaths Across America and its network of volunteers placed over 1.8 million veteran’s wreaths throughout all 50 U.S. states and around the world.
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is a Wreaths Across America corporate sponsor.