Wreaths are placed at the graves of veterans every holiday season as part of the Wreaths Across America program, which seeks to remember and honor those who served in the military and teach others, especially children, about the value of freedom.

Locally, a Wreaths Across America program will take place on Saturday, Dec. 16. The event will begin with a ceremony at noon at Pequea Valley (PV) Intermediate School, 166 S. New Holland Road, Kinzers. Wreaths will then be placed at ceremonies in the Octorara and PV school districts.

The effort is being led by Gap resident Paula Diem, who brought the tradition to the area after taking part in the Wreaths Across America ceremony several times at Arlington National Cemetery. "This will be our fifth time placing wreaths," said Diem. "We started with 1,250 (wreaths). This year, we will be placing 2,800 wreaths in 27 cemeteries."

Diem will lead the ceremony, which will be held indoors and is free and open to the community. "It's about a half-hour ceremony. I will talk about Wreaths Across America and the meaning of the day," she said, noting that there will be special wreaths presented to local veterans and community members representing the branches of the military. "We will present eight wreaths on behalf of the Army, Marines, Air Force, Navy, Space Force, Merchant Marines, Coast Guard and the POW/MIAs."

Following the ceremony, the special wreaths will be transported to the Gap VFW by auxiliary member Dick Martin. The wreaths will be displayed on the front lawn of the building.

Wreath placement will take place at local cemeteries such as Glen Run Cemetery in Atglen and cemeteries at Upper Octorara Presbyterian Church in Parkesburg, Bellevue Presbyterian Church in Gap, Mount Zion United Methodist Church in Enola and St. John's United Methodist Church in Gordonville.

"The wreaths come into the Gap Fire Company on the Thursday before the event," Diem explained. "A Tyson Food truck brings our wreaths to Gap, and then students from PV High School and community members help unload the truck and organize the boxes inside the fire company. On Saturday morning at 8 a.m., the local fire companies come to the Gap Fire Hall, and they take the boxes of wreaths and deliver them to our cemeteries."

The wreaths are purchased through fundraising efforts and with donations from local businesses and individuals.

Those who would like to help place wreaths on Dec. 16 should contact Diem at 717-587-1315. "We encourage preregistering for wreath placement," she added. "It gives us an idea of how many (volunteers) we will have in each cemetery."

According to http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org, the tradition began in Harrington, Maine, in 1992, when Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company discovered he had a surplus of more than 5,000 wreaths. Working with representatives in Washington, D.C., the wreath maker had the extras placed at Arlington National Cemetery in one of the older cemetery sections that had few visitors. From there, the organization grew. In 2022, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers placed more than 2.7 million wreaths at 3,702 participating locations.