Wreaths can be purchased for $17 or three for $34
Goshen, N.Y. – Orange County’s 2023 Wreaths Across America ceremony will be held at noon on Saturday, December 16th at the County’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Wreaths are $17 each or three for $34 and donations in any amount are welcome. Checks can be made payable to Nam Knight’s M/C WAA and can be mailed to the Veterans Service Agency, which is located at 111 Craigville Road, Goshen N.Y. 10924, with attention to Dave Andryshak.
“The County’s goal is to once again put a wreath on every grave in the cemetery,” Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus said. “We look forward to hosting the ceremony again this year and hope that you’ll support it by donating or volunteering.”
Approximately 3,600 wreaths were laid during last year’s ceremony by more than 1,000 volunteers. The tradition of laying wreaths to honor veterans began in 1992, when Morrill Worcester, the owner of Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, had extra wreaths at the close of the holiday season.
Worcester remembered a boyhood trip to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. and decided to donate 5,000 wreaths to be placed on the headstones of an older section of the cemetery. By 2014, Wreaths Across America and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the United States and beyond, including ceremonies at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites of the September 11 tragedies.
For more information about the County’s Wreaths Across America ceremony, contact Dave Andryshak at 845-494-3768 or dandryshak@orangecountygov.com.
