Roxbury Wreaths Across America Covid Edition

Like most things this year, Covid mucked up this year's Wreaths Across America event in Roxbury. Pivoting we scrapped the popular indoor remembrance ceremony, extended wreath laying over two days, and I pulled an all-nighter putting the last pieces of the virtual ceremony video together. 

Hopefully next year we will be back inside the sanctuary for our remembrance ceremony and Fellowship Hall for our post event lunch. To that end, Wreaths Across America is kicking off the fundraising season by matching any wreaths sponsored to RoxburyWAA.org between December 19 – January 15

Effort Underway to Support Wreaths Across America in Roxbury, New Jersey

Ferro Monte Chapter DAR is looking for wreath sponsors to ensure that all veterans at Succasunna Cemeteries are honored this December

Thank you wreath
made by Roxbury children

The Ferro Monte Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution and local volunteers are working hard to ensure that all veterans laid to rest at three Succasunna cemeteries: Flanders-Hillside, First Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church. are honored this December on National Wreaths Across America Day. This year, the ceremony, held simultaneously across the country at nearly 2,000 participating locations, will be on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019.

The goal: to place a live, balsam fir veteran’s wreath at the headstone of every veteran buried there and spread patriotism and ensure no one if forgotten. The cost: Each wreath sponsorship costs $15.

 “Every wreath sponsorship is a meaningful gift from a grateful American who knows what it means to serve and sacrifice for the freedoms we all enjoy,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of Wreaths Across America. “We are so grateful to the community of Roxbury for participating in our mission to Remember, Honor and Teach.”

“It is an honor and a privilege for DAR to support Wreaths Across America” said Denise VanBuren, DAR President General. “For years DAR members have remembered those who have worn the uniform of our nation through participating in their local Wreaths Across America observance.” The Daughters of the American Revolution is a volunteer women’s service organization with more than 185,000 members, who seek to honor their revolutionary ancestors and promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism in their communities. The partnership between DAR and WAA helps to ensure communities across the United States learn the indelible mark our veterans have on our country and the value of honoring their sacrifices. National Wreaths Across America Day is a free, non-political event, open to all people. For more information, to donate locally, please visit www.RoxburyWAA.org, facebook.com/RoxburyWAA, and twitter.com/RoxburyWAA.

About Wreaths Across America
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 more than 1,800 veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. To learn more about Wreaths Across America visit youtube.com/WreathsAcrossAmerica

About Daughters of the American Revolution
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With nearly 185,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world's largest and most active service organizations.  DAR members are committed to volunteer service having served more than 12.5 million hours in communities throughout the world during the past three years.  To learn more about the work of today's DAR, visit DAR.org or connect with DAR on social media: facebook.com/TodaysDAR, twitter.com/TodaysDAR and youtube.com/TodaysDAR.

Roxbury Rocks making the rescheduled Wreaths Across America a success

First the community and local business showed they will never forget veterans by sponsoring a wreath for every veteran grave in the cemeteries on Main St. Then weather forced us to change plans, cancelling the Saturday remembrance ceremony and rescheduling the wreath laying. Despite only a few hours’ notice the cemetery staff and 35 volunteers came out on Friday to lay over 400 wreaths. Ferro Monte Chapter DAR and Presbyterian Church member Sue Anderson opened Fellowship Hall providing hot chocolate and coffee to the very cold volunteers.

Sunday afternoon eager volunteers were waiting for the staff to lay the remaining wreaths in the First Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church cemeteries. The group then moved to Main Street, where NJDAR State Librarian Heather Smith and VFW Post 2833 Commander John Lehnert presided over a shortened memorial service. The ceremonial wreaths were posted by PFC Will Doran and local scouts.

In a moment befitting the season, Trisha Passannante who after closing up Bryan’s Luncheonette for the day drove by as we were posting the military wreaths. She spontaneously reopened the luncheonette to provide hot chocolate and cookies to all the participants!

Thank you so much to all of you who have shown your support of Roxbury Wreaths Across America by sponsoring wreaths. We would like to say a special thanks to our corporate sponsor Towne Auto Restoration for providing 100 wreaths and our business sponsor Jim Salerno Buick GMC for providing 50 wreaths. We want to acknowledge those sponsors who have donated 10 or more wreaths: 

Roxbury Rotary                                                     Scotty’s Trees
Ronetco Supermarkets                                           Caivano Family
Steven Alford                                                        Shaun Hamman      
W.Kodak Jewelers                                                 Mike Salvatore
Hearth & Home                                            IHOP Kenvil
Davis & Hepplewhite Funeral Home               McDonough Family
Fullerton Landscaping                                            Moretrench
Senator Bucco & Assemblyman Bucco         Arentowicz Family
Delsea Termite and Pest Control                             Lawler Railing
DeFillippo Family                                                 Jean Acken    
MJM Contracting Services                                    JackSon Services
Towne Auto Restoration                                          Jim Salerno Buick GMC
         Roxbury Area Chamber of Commerce

The Ferro Monte Chapter, NSDAR wants to thank all those who gave of their time and talents to make this event a success, especially the following groups, businesses and individuals:

First Presbyterian Church                               United Methodist Church
Roxbury Township DPW                               ADP Florham Park
VFW Post #2833                                               VFW Auxiliary Post #2833 
Roxbury Township Police                               Leo Coakley
Gail Corbett                                                          Carol Grobels  
Girl Scout Troops                                               Boy Scout Troops 
Brownie Troops                                               Cub Scout Troops
Ronetco Supermarkets                                        Bryans Luncheonette
TAPinto Roxbury        
  

#SayTheirNames #WAA2016

After a short break to celebrate the holiday we will begin planning for Roxbury Wreaths Across America 2017. So save the date December 16, 2017!

1st Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church Cemeteries Announced as an Official Location for 2015 National Wreaths Across America Program

Community Fundraising Efforts to Culminate in Wreath-Laying Ceremony on National Wreaths Across America Day 

Wreaths Across America (WAA), a nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, announced that 1st Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church Cemeteries in Succasunna, NJ has once again joined in the effort to fulfill the national WAA mission of remembering, honoring and teaching under the 2015 central theme: “Cemeteries are for the living.” This is the second year that 1st Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church Cemeteries will be participating.

1st Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church Cemeteries will be organizing several fundraising events in the coming year that will culminate in a wreath-laying ceremony to honor veterans on National Wreath Across America Day on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Remembrance wreaths will be placed at the headstones of fallen veterans at more than 1,000 locations across the country and overseas. A remembrance ceremony will be held at 1st Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church Cemeteries in Succasunna, NJ, on this day to ensure that the individuals who served to protect the freedoms of our country are not, and never will be, forgotten.

The Ferro Monte Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, is proud to coordinate this event.” It is truly a community event with countless residents all coming together to sponsor wreaths, lay wreaths and create a moving memorial ceremony to honor these veterans.” Vice Regent and Location Coordinator Kim Armstrong says. “We hope with the generous support of the community as well as local businesses we will be able to honor all 560 veterans in the combined cemeteries with wreaths this year. To accomplish this goal we ask you to sponsor wreaths at RoxburyWAA.org by November 28th and attend the ceremony on December 12th.” 

“Wreaths Across America has grown on the passion of our volunteers,” said Karen Worcester, WAA executive director. “Many of our organization’s most successful ideas came from those who do the real work of organizing and carrying out our ceremonies in their hometowns. It is overwhelming to realize that more than 1,000 locations are living our mission to Remember, Honor and Teach the service and sacrifice of veterans.”

Those interested in volunteering with their local Wreaths Across America location in Succasunna, NJ are invited to email NJDARFerroMonte@aol.com. For more information, to donate or to sign up to volunteer, please visit RoxburyWAA.org. 

About Wreaths Across America

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 each December at Arlington, as well as at hundreds of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. To keep up with all the Wreaths Across America news, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org, follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/WAAHQ and on Twitter at twitter.com/WreathsAcross.

Online Wreath Sponsorship Deadline Extended to Dec 3

I was interviewed this morning for an article on the Wreaths Across America event being held at the combined cemeteries of the 1st Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church by Fred Aun from the new online news service servicing Roxbury, Tap Into Roxbury. As the headlline notes, the big news is you still have 3 days, including #givingTuesday to sponsor a wreath for our location by going to www.roxburywaa.org. And if I haven't mentioned it before, sponsorships are tax deductible. 

Fred took a great shot of the cemetery covered in snow which I am fervently praying will melt prior to December 13th. Check out his article to find out more about the WAA event in Succasunna.

Roxbury Joining Wreaths Across America

Roxbury is joining the Wreaths Across America family in honoring veterans by laying wreaths on the graves of the departed servicemen and women. We hope that you will be able to take part in this moving event.

It is our mission to place a wreath in conjunction with Wreaths Across America on all Gravestones in the combined Cemeteries of the First Presbyterian Church and the United Methodist Church to Remember, Honor our Roxbury's veterans and to Teach our future veterans that we are and will be thankful for their service and show them “We Do Not Forget, We Will Never Forget”.

Our service men and women sacrifice their time and safety every single day of the year, to preserve our freedoms. At many homes, there is an empty seat for one who is serving, or one who made the ultimate sacrifice for our Country. We honor our veterans every day. And we think there is no better time to express our appreciation, than during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

In order to meet our mission we rely on the generosity of individuals and businesses for support. Without the assistance of community-minded individuals just like you, we will not be able to meet our goal of laying wreaths on the 560 veterans’ graves in the combined cemeteries.

We ask that you make a commitment to honor our veterans by sponsoring a wreath and participating on December 13 by laying a wreath or attending the memorial ceremony.

Wreath Laying will begin at 11am in the combined cemeteries. The Memorial Ceremony is not just a Roxbury ceremony, this ceremony will be synchronized across the country. Our ceremony will be held at 12:00pm EST, December 13th at First Presbyterian Church. Refreshments will be served in Fellowship Hall during the wreath laying and after the memorial ceremony.

Thank you in advance for your support. To make a tax deductible donation go to www.RoxburyWAA.org For more information contact:  NJDARFerroMonte@aol.com

Arlington National Cemetery

Yesterday I attended the internment of my cousin's husband at Arlington National Cemetery. This is not the first family member who has been laid to rest on this hallowed ground. My uncle (USN) joined his wife in 2010, and there is at least one other known to me.

Dad at John Armstrong's Grave

The history of Arlington itself is interesting. The mansion was originally built by the grandson of President George Washington. It became the residence of Robert E Lee after his marriage to the grandson's daughter. Arlington House as it was known, was confiscated by the Union at the outbreak of the Civil War. On June 15, 1864 Brigadier General Montgomery Meigs appropriated the property as a military cemetery. Sixteen days later Private John Armstrong died in a Washington DC hospital of gunshot wounds received in battle. He was one of the first soldiers buried in Arlington National Cemetery.