By Mike McCombs
The Island News
Another successful year is in the books for Wreaths Across America Beaufort.
For the fifth year in a row, Beaufort Coordinator David Edwards confirmed, the group was able to place a Remembrance Wreath on every headstone in Beaufort National Cemetery for the holiday season.
According to Edwards, more than 3,500 volunteers, as well as 168 motorcycles and four truck of wreaths, were on hand Saturday, Dec. 14, to make things happen.
“I like the way everything went,” Edwards said. “The weather was perfect, there were enough volunteers, and enough assistance.”
All the work isn’t done, though.
The wreaths will be retired on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 8 a.m.
“Volunteers will be needed for that, as well,” Edwards said. “Waste Pro will be assisting with the disposal of the wreaths.”
Looking toward next year’s Wreaths Across America Day, between now and Jan. 15, any orders for wreaths will be matched by Wreaths Across America.
To sponsor a Remembrance Wreath, which costs $17, click on the QR code on Wreaths Across America Beaufort’s Facebook page or visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/GA0175P. That code at the end of the web address guarantees the wreaths purchased make their way to Beaufort.
Wreaths Across America Beaufort is in its 19th year of attempting to make sure all 28,000 veteran heroes buried in Beaufort National Cemetery have a Remembrance Wreath on their headstones.
Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization’s mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.
Edwards will be around for Wreaths Across America Beaufort’s 20th year. He has no plans in the immediate future to step away.
“It means a lot to me,” Edwards said. “Those are my brothers and sisters out there.”
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
