Wreaths to honor veterans in Old City Cemetery this weekend

Director of the Old City Cemetery Bruce Christian lays a final wreath on a grave stone of a confederate soldier at the Old City Cemetery in December 2008 as part of Wreaths Across America.

By: Casey Gillis | Lynchburg News and Advance
Published: December 11, 2009

The Blue Ridge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is taking some time to honor veterans this weekend.

The local chapter is sponsoring Wreaths Across America, a national program based on the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, at noon Saturday in Old City Cemetery.

“It’s a really beautiful, moving thing,” says Cyndi Fein, the regent of the DAR’s Blue Ridge Chapter.

“The DAR clearly loves veterans, so any opportunity we have to get them a little attention, we’re delighted.”

The program grew out of the Arlington Wreath Project, itself started in 1992 with the donation of 5,000 Christmas wreaths. It became an annual event that was relatively obscure until 2005, when a photo of one of the wreaths, covered in snow, hit the Internet. Other localities wanted to host similar events, and Wreaths Across America was born.

It came to Lynchburg last year, at the suggestion of a DAR member who attended one of the ceremonies in Richmond.

On Saturday, 500 wreaths will be placed on the graves of veterans in Old City Cemetery, including seven larger ones that represent each branch of the armed services — the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Merchant Marines and Coast Guard — as well as those soldiers who were prisoners of war or missing in action.

The day will also include a flyover, motorcycle escort, music and several speakers, including Fein and Mayor Joan Foster.

In the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held inside the cemetery’s chapel.

“Everyone thinks about veterans on Veterans Day,” Fein says, “but why not another time?”