The program is not familiar to many, but for more than 30 years Wreaths Across America has worked toward its goal of placing a wreath on the final resting place of every veteran in the United States each December.
Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, Maine, initiated the idea after finding himself with a surplus of wreaths near the end of the 1992 holiday season. Remembering a boyhood memory of visiting Arlington National Cemetery, Worcester reached out to a U.S. Senator from Maine, Olympia Snowe, and made arrangements to have the surplus wreaths placed on markers in an older section of Arlington National Cemetery. The program has grown from there.
National Guard veteran Nancy Fassbender is a member of the AZ Veterans Hall of Fame, recipient of a DAR award and serves as grand marshal for the 2024 Veterans Day Parade in Phoenix. She is also Arizona coordinator for Wreaths Across America and spoke about that program to an audience at Fountain View Village in Fountain Hills, Nov. 5.
