It is that time of year again, time for Wreaths across America. I have written about this in past years but thought I would write a reminder. This campaign is to provide a Christmas Wreath, or Holiday Wreath if you prefer that term, for every Veterans grave. I have been involved with this the last three years and I can’t tell you the satisfaction I get from it. Here in Greensboro I have my sons’ father in law and a couple of neighbors that were Vets and so they get honored. I have also adopted a Colonel Comegy, civil war veteran, and ensure he gets a wreath. I never see any flowers or mementos at his gravesite and so feel he has no family left in the area. I just wouldn’t want him to be forgotten. Forgotten graves are one of the saddest things I can imagine. Were I able I would provide each and every Veteran a wreath. Truth is, if I were able I would provide each and every grave one. Last I knew the estimate was at 10,000 souls. I will not estimate the number forgotten. I think of them as unvisited. I believe someone , somewhere, remembers those names. But, back to Wreaths Across America.
 Ordering your wreaths is a easy thing to do. You can go to their website and order from there. It takes a little searching around but a list of participating cemeteries is provided. All you have to do is list the cemetery and the name of the person you would like given a wreath. Volunteers place them on the graves on December 16. That order must be placed by Nov 27th. You can also just order wreaths for unnamed individuals and they will be placed on a veterans gravesite at random. There is a link to the website for ordering wreaths on the Greensboro Historical Society on Facebook ! Should you choose to order through that organization, of which I am a member, it would be appreciated. For every wreath ordered the Historical Society receives five dollars back from Wreaths across America. Last year we used those funds to buy American flags to place on the graves on Veterans Day. We are hoping to buy flags representing the branch of service for each veteran as well.
 It wasn’t my intent to turn this blog into a sales pitch and I apologize for that. I did want everyone to be aware of this campaign. It is something that speaks to me. Last year the cemetery where the majority of my family lies did not participate in this program. It is a matter of volunteering to lay the wreaths. Of course someone has to organize the whole thing. For me, the fundraising part is secondary. I encourage everyone to participate and I really don’t care where you order your wreaths from. There are plenty of places you can check to see where your ancestors may be buried. I use Find-A-Grave myself. It is free and has quite a big listing.
 Well that is my thoughts for this morning. Like I said you can go to The Greensboro Historical Society on Facebook. Make sure it is Greensboro Maryland and just scroll down the page. You will see a piece about Wreaths across America and in that piece there is a link to order wreaths. Remember you don’t have to send the wreath to the Greensboro cemetery from there. You can send them to any participating cemetery in the country. The historical society in Greensboro will get the credit for the sale however. That’s a good thing. No veteran should ever be forgotten, especially at Christmas. This is one small way of remembering them.

Just type this in the search block of your browser  : https://wreaths.fastport.com/donateLocation.html?page=42810    I think this will work, if not just google wreaths across America.