A group of family members of veterans buried in Southwick’s two cemeteries and volunteers stand in silence to remember the fallen before fanning out and placing the evergreen wreaths on the veteran’s graves on Dec. 14 during the Wreaths Across America event.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
SOUTHWICK — For the second consecutive year, volunteers spent Dec. 14 in the Old and New Cemeteries honoring every military service member laid to rest there with a Christmas wreath adorned with a bright red bow.
“It was a really nice group of volunteers who helped place the wreaths on the graves of the men and women who served our country in the military,” said Lisa Anderson, the town’s sexton and the coordinator for Wreaths Across America.
“I want to thank the American Legion Post 338, Select Board members Diane Gale and Doug Moglin, and Police Chief Rhett Bannish for attending and taking part in the brief ceremony,” Anderson said.
She also thanked Haas Hauling, which has displayed the Wreaths Across America banner on one of its trailers that could be seen all over town, for its help.
“This effort would not have been a success without them,” Anderson said.
Anderson decided last year to host the Wreaths Across America at the town’s cemeteries after her family sponsored a wreath in 2017 that was placed on a veteran’s grave at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam to memorialize their father’s military service.
But their father was buried in Southwick’s New Cemetery, and after being named the town’s sexton in 2021, one of her goals was to honor the nearly 500 veterans buried in the town’s cemeteries with a wreath.
Partnering with Wreaths Across America, a Maine-based nonprofit that provides wreaths with red bows that are placed on the gravestones of veterans in December, she began raising money to make sure the first event hosted in town would be a success.
It was, and Anderson began planning for this year’s event, which was once again a success.
“We had between 75 and 80 people who came to help on Saturday,” Anderson said, adding that a good portion of them were families of veterans buried in the cemetery.
There was one group of volunteers, however, that surprised Anderson.
“We had a crew from The Home Depot in Westfield show up to help. I didn’t even know they had donated,” Anderson said.
She said for those who want to sponsor a wreath and choose to do so though the Wreaths Across America website, she said it is important to name the location for the sponsorship.
Anderson said her fundraising efforts to sponsor the wreaths has been very successful, with her collecting more money than needed to have over 500 wreaths delivered this year.
With a head start on next year’s fundraising campaign, Anderson said Wreaths Across America has announced that it will match every donation between now and Jan. 17.
“For any group or family that wants to sponsor a wreath for a veteran’s grave, now is the best time to give,” she said.
Anderson wanted to thank some of the sponsors and those who made the event a success with a spaghetti fundraising dinner hosted by the American Legion Post 338, Crestview Construction & Trucking Co., the Southwick Lions Club; members of the Southwick Congregational Church; Saunders Package Store; and attorney Linda Mol.
