Members of the Park City American Legion chapter laid wreaths at the graves of veterans at the Park City Cemetery.
“Remember, Honor, Teach” is the motto of the national Wreaths Across America program. Although this is the first year the Park City Chapter of the American Legion and Blue Star Families has participated in the event, the chapter went all in and laid 146 holiday wreaths at the graves of veterans at the Park City Cemetery on December 19th.
Meredith Reed was a Chaplain in the Air Force and currently serves as post commander for the Park City chapter. She says the wreaths are important teaching tools and ways to honor the service and sacrifice of America’s veterans.
“It’s about remembering their life and their service. It’s also about teaching young people about what it means to serve our country and how that’s important for our community.”
Park City Municipal compiles a list of veterans interred in Park City, but Reed and the Legion noticed several graves identified as veterans were not in the official database. The Park City Legion will be working with the city to compile a complete list of veterans for next year’s wreath laying.
Reed says Park City’s post is small, but normally does an annual event for Veteran’s Day, various community gatherings throughout the year, and sponsors a few scholarships for local high school students.
She says despite the cold weather and COVID-19 fears, about 50 people still showed up to lay wreaths and remember local veterans.
“I just think there was a really positive response from our community and the people who came weren’t necessarily the folks that I always see at these kind of things. They were really happy about having that opportunity to participate in something like this for our community. I think it was really successful and I look forward to doing it again next year and we will make a bigger deal about it next year.”
Wreaths Across America lays wreaths at the graves of veterans annually on the weekend before Christmas. For more information on the program, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org.
