WREATHS OF REVERENCE
Event draws hundreds of families to Bakersfield National Cemetery
Never before had Valerie Farias and her family traveled to the annual Wreaths Across America event at Bakersfield National Cemetery in Arvin.
Once they arrived in the cold and fog of Saturday morning, it didn’t take long to lay wreaths at the gravestones of their fallen family members who had served in the military.
Then, with extra time on their hands, they decided to keep going and decorate the graves of others who had also died. So that’s what they did, gathering up wreaths and placing them in honor of strangers who had served their country.
“It looks so much more joyful to have the wreaths out,” she said. Besides, she reasoned, these people had made sacrifices for us all. “We’ll respect their memory.”
Hundreds of families — so many that overflow parking created a long line of cars along East Bear Mountain Boulevard — came to remember, and celebrate, the lives of fallen veterans.
Part of a national commemoration that has only grown in size, the event struck a balance between solemn reverence and holiday tradition as families took the opportunity to reconnect with loved ones long gone.
Bakersfield resident Jorge Gomez, who traveled to the event with his wife and sister-in-law, said he came to honor the memories of his father-in-law and daughter-in-law.
“It’s a beautiful way to show our respect and include our family members that have passed,” he said. “It’s part of, for us, the Christmas season.”
Bert and Norma Johnson said they have been attending the celebration for at least 10 years. On Saturday, they laid six wreaths, five of them for relatives who served in the Korean War and one for a relative who served in Vietnam.
“This is something that we just want to pay back to our veterans,” said Norma Johnson, a Bakersfield resident.
“It’s just a tradition now,” she added, saying it wouldn’t feel like the holidays without laying wreaths on gravestones of loved ones. “We would just feel like we missed out.”
Others stood at gravesites silently, in tears. Some hugged in contemplation and gratitude.
Elsewhere there was commotion as people huddled under the roof of the cemetery’s visitor center, where Delano Elks Lodge 1761 was giving out free doughnuts — 92 dozen of them.
“Look at the smiles,” lodge trustee Jerry Gruver said after putting out a fresh box of glazed donuts. “They love it.”
Added fellow trustee Jonathan Musto, “It gives them something to smile about, especially the kids.”