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51°Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, MaineMonday, December 13, 2010



Wreaths once again bound for Arlington
ANN S


— By . KIM


Staff Writer

Tractor-trailers loaded up with 16,000 wreaths began their journey to Arlington National Cemetery on snowy roads in Washington County on Sunday.

Law enforcement, the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle group and others were accompanying the 16 tractor-trailers as they made their way south.

Between 8,000 and 10,000 volunteers are expected to place the wreaths on grave sites at Arlington on Saturday. Remembrance ceremonies will be held in conjunction at several hundred veterans cemeteries and memorials around the nation and overseas.

The effort is now organized by the nonprofit Wreaths Across America, established as a vehicle for the growing number of people who wanted to get involved, said Tobin Slaven, a part-time spokesman for the organization. But its roots are in a gesture made by Morrill Worcester, whose childhood trip to the cemetery made an impression that lasted through the decades.

Faced with overstock in December 1992, Worcester, president of the Worcester Wreath Co. in Harrington, sought and received permission to place 5,000 wreaths at graves in Arlington. It became an annual tradition that expanded to other locations after 2005, when a photograph of wreaths at snowy graves was widely disseminated through e-mail.

This year, there are 402 locations besides Arlington National Cemetery participating in the project. In all, 151,000 wreaths are being distributed.

The wreath company remains the largest donor of wreaths but the sponsors also include the United Service Organizations, Walmart, other corporate sponsors and individuals.

Worcester used to make the trip to Virginia with a handful of people, driving 14 hours to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., where they would stay overnight. The next morning, they would place the wreaths, have lunch and begin the drive back to Maine.

Now, the round trip takes a week and the convoy can include as many as hundreds of vehicles at times. Each day includes several stops for ceremonies as well as a number of emotional moments.

After leaving the wreath factory in Harrington, the convoy stopped on Route 1A for a brief ceremony at a military memorial in Holden. At a Bangor ceremony, an elderly veteran pressed a small cross with a prayer into the hand of Karen Worcester, who is married to Morrill and runs Wreaths Across America. An 83-year-old friend of his makes the crosses for military personnel being sent overseas, but the veteran wanted Worcester to have it, even though neither she nor her husband have served, she said.

''It's so humbling to have someone give you something like that,'' she said as the convoy drove through central Maine. ''Over and over again, they let us know what this means to them.''

Sunday's schedule also included stops in Hermon and Portland. Today the convoy is scheduled to stop in Wells and Kittery heading into Massachusetts.

The trip always comes at a busy time for the wreath company, but Morrill Worcester checks in four or five times a day and has faith in his sons and factory managers. On this, his 18th consecutive trip, he still looks forward to the journey.

He marvels at all the people who show their support, from the Civil Air Patrol's fundraising squadrons and other volunteers to the individuals who greet the convoy with flags as it passes through their communities.

''I'm very proud of it. It's come a long way,'' he said of the project. ''It never would do what it does if there weren't an awful lot of people who feel the way I do.''


Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:

akimWreaths once again bound for Arlington