Wreaths placed on veterans’ graves

By Donnie A. Lucas

The graves of over 560 veterans were decorated by family members and other volunteers at the Albany Cemetery last Saturday during the annual  Wreaths Across America Day program.

More than 65 volunteers and another 10 to 15 family members of veterans spread out to place the fresh green wreaths with red bows on local graves. This is the third year Albany has participated in the program.

A ceremony was held at the pavilion at the cemetery prior to distributing the lists of recipients to the volunteers. Veteran and new Albany resident Matthew Sanchez delivered a brief message, while Daniel Key, also a veteran, played Taps.

“It all went really well,” co-organizer Saundra Nobles said. “We had plenty of help, with more volunteers than before. I had already lined up volunteers, but another 15 to 20 showed up Saturday to help.”

The local event was started two years ago by Henry and Melinda Musselman, who covered the cost of the wreaths.

Nobles was enlisted to locate and document the graves of veterans when the project was started, keeping track each year of new graves and combing the cemetery in search of any graves of veterans who may have been overlooked in the past.

She was in charge of sectioning off the cemetery and assigning volunteers to cover certain blocks with a list in hand of markers to search for.

Family members of deceased veterans were also invited to place wreaths on their own relatives’ graves.

“I think we had even more people volunteer this year,” Melinda Musselman said. “We were so glad to see that because we want this to be a community-wide observation, so the more people who become involved, the better. We hope to see this continue to grow.”

She added that participating in the event is an important way to honor the memory of veterans.

“This is a powerful way to honor those who helped provide the freedom that we all enjoy,” she said.

The wreaths will remain in place for about three more weeks. Musselman already has volunteers lined up to collect the wreaths in mid-January when the holiday season is over.

Anyone who feels that a veteran might not have had a wreath placed on his or her gravesite can contact Nobles to update the list for next year.

Nobles can be reached at 325-280-7725.