Wreaths Across America Long Beach event planned for December 13
By Toni Miles
For the sixth year in a row, the Donnie Levens American Legion Post 1995 and Eddie Blake VFW Post 3937 are organizing a Wreaths Across America event for Long Beach. This year’s ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. on December 13 and will be followed by the laying of the wreaths. The public is invited to attend.
The national program was launched in December of 1992, when wreath maker Morrill Worcester found himself with a surplus of 5,000 wreaths during the holiday season. Worcester saw the surplus as an opportunity to pay tribute to the country’s veterans and arranged for the wreaths to be placed at Arlington National Cemetery. The Worcester family, along with veterans and volunteers, formed the non-profit Wreaths Across America program in 2007 to extend the program’s reach beyond Arlington National Cemetery. This year, there are expected to be over 4,700 participating locations, in all fifty U.S. states, at sea, and abroad.
This year’s Wreaths Across America ceremony is planned at the Long Beach Cemetery on December 13 at 11 a.m. (Photo credit: Toni Miles)
Long Beach residents are encouraged to contribute to the event by purchasing wreaths. Each hand-made, fresh, live wreath costs $17 and is made in the USA with Maine balsam. Sponsorships or donations can be mailed to American Legion Post 1995, PO Box 550, Long Beach MS 39560, or can be mailed or delivered to VFW Post 3937, 213 Klondyke Road, Long Beach MS 39560. Checks should be made payable to American Legion Post 1995.
Those who are purchasing a wreath to honor a specific veteran buried in Long Beach are asked to include information about who is being sponsored. Although the Long Beach City Cemetery will be the focus of the wreath laying, wreaths for veterans interred at other Long Beach and neighboring cemeteries can be sponsored and picked up the afternoon of December 14 after the ceremony on Girard Avenue.
For more information, contact event organizer Wendy Griffioen at 228-424-6910 or WJGriffioen1960@gmail.com, or event organizer Margaret Levens at 228-341-3574 or MargaretLevens@gmail.com.
The cemetery is located at West First Street and South Girard.
