Wreaths to be placed Dec. 19

By Sandy Morris

National Wreaths Across America Day 2020 has been scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 19, and local residents have arranged a ceremony to honor service members buried in the Albany Cemetery. 

A brief observance is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. at the pavilion in the Albany Cemetery before fresh wreaths are placed on almost 500 graves. 

Melinda Musselman, co-coordinator of the event along with her husband Henry, thought about laying fresh wreaths last year to honor veterans buried in the Albany Cemetery, similar to the ceremony that takes place at Arlington Memorial Cemetery each year.

She discovered, however, that there was no complete record of those service members, and she began working to find a solution.

Musselman was introduced to Saundra Nobles, who started the lengthy process of figuring out the number of veterans buried here.

Nobles eventually assembled 491 names of veterans located in the Albany Cemetery alone, not including any additional cemeteries in Shackelford County. 

 A number of volunteers already plan to help place the wreaths on the graves.

Nobles said she has the cemetery divided into 18 sections.

“Members of the local Boy Scouts have volunteered to come, along with several veterans,” Nobles stated. “I also contacted the ag teacher, Chris Beard, and he is bringing students to help.”

Anyone who would personally like to place a wreath on the grave of a family member or friend can contact Nobles to make arrangements. 

Nobles can be reached at 325-280-7725 to add or verify a specific veteran on the list, to volunteer to help place wreaths, or to request a wreath be placed on a family member’s grave.