Some like to celebrate Christmas in July, but others are setting their sights to December and making plans. This year, the city of North Royalton and the North Royalton Historical Society will participate in Wreaths Across America. They will again include the North Royalton Cemetery as one of the many locations participating across the United States.
North Royalton Council President Paul Marnecheck is currently the Wreaths Across America coordinator for North Royalton. Wreaths Across America offered a few options regarding sponsorships that could make the event a success. The North Royalton Historical Society was chosen as the beneficiary of the sponsorship. “It sounded like a pretty good civic challenge. I figured the Historical Society would be a good choice, as to help preserve North Royalton’s history,” said Marnecheck, a lifetime member of the North Royalton Historical Society. He said that with each wreath purchased for placement in the North Royalton Cemetery, the Historical Society would get a donation.
Wreaths Across America got started in 1992, when Morrill Worcester, owner of the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine had a surplus of wreaths near the end of the holiday season. He recalled a trip to Washington, D.C. as a child and the impression made by Arlington National Cemetery. He used that opportunity to honor American veterans by making arrangements to have the wreaths placed at Arlington. This went on for several years and in 2005, he received national attention, when thousands of offers were received from all over the country to help with Arlington and requests to emulate the project in their own cemeteries. In 2007, the Worcester family, along with veterans and other groups, formed the organization, Wreaths Across America to continue and expand the effort.
According to the organization, “Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, our mission to Remember, Honor and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 1,600 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad.” Sponsoring a wreath means honoring an American hero. Each wreath is hand-crafted of all-American balsam and hand-tied with a red velvet bow. The wreaths are made in Columbia Falls, Maine and sent to each location. Millions of volunteers participate in the Wreaths Across America, at over 1,600 locations across the United States. More than one third of the volunteers are children.
The 2024 Theme is “ Live With Purpose.” Executive Director Karen Worcester noted that “over the course of the last year, and then especially on the escort to Arlington last December, I listened to people who had gone through great adversity, and they’d taken that adversity and turned it around as a call to action, to spend the rest of their lives making sure that every day was meaningful and that they lived with purpose.”
The ceremony at the North Royalton Cemetery will take place on Saturday, December 14, at 6170 Royalton Road, between Ridge and State Roads. There are about 400 veterans resting at the North Royalton Cemetery.
Wreath sponsorships are $17 each and can be purchased online by going to the website www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/OH0432P. For those going directly to the Wreaths across America website, use the Group ID: OH0432P. The Historical Society will only get the donation for each wreath purchased if the group code is used. Questions can be directed to Marnecheck at councilpres@northroyalton.org, or by calling him at 440-728-4674.
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer