Chamber asks for community’s help to honor vets’ graves with wreaths

Fundraising officially kicked off Sunday for this year’s Wreaths Across America remembrance.
Ceremonies kick-off simultaneously Saturday, Dec. 19, across the country, at sea and abroad. In Gladewater, the effort gets underway with an 11 a.m. ceremony downtown at Veterans’ Memorial Plaza before volunteers head to Gladewater Memorial Park.
They’ll be placing 300 wreaths on the graves of service members. Each costs $17, and Gladewater Chamber of Commerce is collecting contributions.
Some donations have already started coming in, according to Lois Reed, chamber dynamo and project organizer. That said, there’s a long way to go to the $5100 cost for all the memorial wreaths from the national Wreaths Across America organization.
“Also, we need volunteers. That doesn’t cost you anything,” she said, “to come out there and place the wreaths.”
Each participant is asked to pause for a moment of silence at the graveside after laying the wreath.
Learn more and make an online donation via the local project page at tinyurl.com/GladewaterWreaths26. Contributions can also be made at the Gladewater chamber at 215 N. Main St.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Reed at 903-845-5501.