Shawnee Cemetery to honor veterans’ graves with wreaths

Shawnee: This Saturday, Shawnee Cemetery is kicking off a special tradition for the first time in Allen County. It’s all part of Wreaths Across America, which honors our fallen service members by placing wreaths on their graves.

This program started back in 1992 when a wreath company in Maine decided to take some extra wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery. Since then, it’s grown to include thousands of cemeteries across the country. Lesa Wende, the cemetery sexton, shared that this year, around four million wreaths will be laid nationwide on the same day. Ohio alone has 255 participating cemeteries, which is pretty impressive!

The wreaths arrived at Shawnee United Methodist Church with a police and fire escort, making it a big deal. The ceremony is set for noon on Saturday, and Wende hopes it inspires other local cemeteries to join in next year. It’s important to note that wreaths aren’t just for those who died in combat; any veteran gets one.

Wende mentioned that the cemetery has a brigadier general from the War of 1812 and veterans from various wars, including World War I and II. They even have a Gold Star veteran who was killed in action in Iraq in 2007.

The ceremony will feature speeches from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and retired Lt. Col. William Stratton from the Ohio National Guard. They’re also looking for volunteers to help lay the wreaths after the ceremony. If you want to pitch in, you can reach out to Wende at 419-236-3157 or check out the Shawnee Cemetery Facebook page for more info.