For more than a decade, the Women’s Civic Club of Carmichaels has spent a Saturday of each December, gathered at the Laurel Point Cemetery in Carmichaels to celebrate Wreaths Across America. This year, 2022, marks the twelfth year that the group has overseen the event there, and has found a way to serve – the theme of this year’s Wreaths Across America.
Andrea Semenoff, president of the Women’s Civic Club, read a local news article about the ceremony at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Bridgeville, PA. She mentioned it at a club meeting, and the club decided to adopt the Laurel Point Cemetery in Carmichaels.
Their first year wasn’t as big as they wanted due to a late start, but for their second year, the club made it a priority to cover the veteran’s graves in the older portion of the cemetery, reasoning those graves were more likely to be forgotten. By the third year, they were able to cover all the veteran’s graves in the cemetery and have continued to do so ever since.
This year’s goal is to place 360 wreaths on the graves of the veterans who are buried at Laurel Point. “We have some very generous sponsors,” says Andrea. “A lot of people have loved ones buried in Laurel Point and will sponsor wreaths for their gravesites. And the local businesses are very generous. It’s one of the best things about living in a small community.”
The club, along with American Legion Post 400 and the Carmichaels VFW Post 3491, local scouts, and other volunteers will place the wreaths on December 17 this year. The Post 400 American Legion Band of Carmichaels, under the direction of Frank Ricco will begin playing at 11:30am.
The official ceremony will start at noon with a Minute of Silence, followed by the National Anthem sung by Kaylee Cutwright; the Pledge of Allegiance led by the Carmichaels Girl Scout Troop 52374 and Troop Leader Julie Murphy; a playing of God Bless America and the Navy Hymn; opening remarks by Frank Ricco; Master of Ceremonies; the laying of the wreaths at the cemetery’s monument by one veteran representing each branch of the military, a playing of Nearer My God to Thee; Guest Speaker, Eric Lundblom, (United States Marine Corps veteran and Readjustment Counseling Therapist with the Pittsburgh Veterans Center); and a playing of TAPS. After the ceremony, volunteers begin the process of placing wreaths on all veteran’s graves in the cemetery.
Wreaths Across America started quietly in the early twentieth century when Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine had a surplus of wreaths towards the end of the 1992 holiday season. Company owner Morrill Worcester, remembering a trip to Arlington National Cemetery during his boyhood, working with Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, arranged to place the wreaths on graves in an older section of Arlington.
As time went on, other organizations became involved in the process. Volunteers from the local American Legion and VFW decorated the wreaths with bows. Members of the Maine State Society of Washington, D.C. organized the wreath-laying and special ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
In 2005, a picture of Arlington covered in wreaths brought national attention to the donations and requests began to pour in from people that wanted to help with Arlington; other requests came to recreate the ceremonies at local cemeteries. In 2006, civic organizations held simultaneous wreath-laying ceremonies at over 150 locations.
In response to the increasing number of cemeteries and volunteers, the non-profit Wreaths Across America was formed to support the national effort. By 2014, over 1000 locations participated, with more than 700,000 wreaths placed. Laurel Point Cemetery in Carmichaels, Green Mount Cemetery in Waynesburg, and Rosemont Cemetery in Rogersville have all been involved in Wreaths Across America.