Saturday, December 15, 2018, at 12 PM, a ceremony will be held at Woodside Cemetery in Middletown, OH as part of National Wreaths Across America Day. Observed annually on the 3rd Saturday in December, National Wreaths Across America Day is a movement to cover all Veterans grave markers with a Christmas wreath.
For the past several years Team Fastrax™ has donated their time to the laying of the wreaths and their skills to perform an American Flag skydive in honor of our Veterans who have passed.
This year will be no different. The team will gracefully fly in with their 2,000 sq. ft. American Flag, while the National Anthem plays, before the ceremony and reading of the veteran’s names. Fifteen Team Members will then join all the other volunteers as they reverently place wreaths on veteran’s graves.
“What better time to thank those who served our country to protect the ones we hold dear?” commented John Hart, owner of Start Skydiving, and Founder of Team Fastrax™. “The holidays are a time where we reflect on how thankful we are for our loved ones and cherish the holiday memories of the ones we’ve lost. We’re grateful that we’ve been invited to be a small part of the large effort to honor the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters who are gone but are certainly not forgotten.”
According to the Wreaths Across America website, In 1992, Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine, found himself with a surplus of wreaths nearing the end of the holiday season. Remembering a boyhood experience at Arlington, Worcester realized he had an opportunity to honor our country’s veterans. The annual tribute went on quietly for several years, until 2005, when a photo of the stones at Arlington, adorned with wreaths and covered in snow, circulated around the internet. Suddenly, the project received national attention. Thousands of requests poured in from all over the country from people wanting to help with Arlington, to emulate the Arlington project at their National and State cemeteries, or to simply share their stories and thank Morrill Worcester for honoring our nation’s heroes. In 2008, over 300 locations held wreath-laying ceremonies in every state, Puerto Rico and 24 overseas cemeteries. Over 100,000 wreaths were placed on veterans’ graves. Over 60,000 volunteers participated. And that year, December 13, 2008 was unanimously voted by the US Congress as “Wreaths Across America Day”.
For more information on the ceremony, or to donate wreaths, visit the Wreaths Across America website.
ABOUT TEAM FASTRAX™
Team Fastrax™, is sponsored by SELECTiON.COM®, a nationwide provider of criminal and pre-employment background screenings, also referred to as a Consumer Reporting Agency. Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, SELECTiON.COM® is a veteran-owned company that has been in business since 1991 and offers more than 35 background and data collection services.