This year, National Wreaths Across America Day took place on Dec. 18 at over 2,500 participating locations nationwide. Currently, nearly 700 DAR Chapters nationwide participate in the annual wreath laying event at their local level, and help share the mission to remember, honor, teach, year-round.

John Bartram Chapter DAR members joined the American Legion, the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Corps, Lake Sumter Chapter SAR members, Fruitland Park Mayor Chris Cheshire, area veterans, their families and supporters on Dec. 18 for the National Wreaths Across America (WAA) ceremony, held locally at Shiloh Cemetery in Fruitland Park. 

In June of this year Wreaths Across America celebrated a new grove dedicated to Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) on the tip lands in Maine as part of its Veterans Remembrance Tree Program. The balsam fir trees in this grove now hold replica dog tags of thousands of veterans, all Revolutionary War-era ancestors of DAR members nationwide.

WAA established the Veterans Remembrance Tree Program as another way to remember and honor veterans. As Gold Star families visited the land in Columbia Falls, Maine, where the balsam tips are harvested each year to be made into the wreaths that are placed on veterans’ graves, they found a sense of peace and tranquility from the land. The Remembrance Tree Program gives them a living memorial to their loved one.

“As a DAR member myself, I can say that their mission of promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education for children, speaks to me deeply and aligns effortlessly with our own mission to Remember, Honor, Teach,” said Karen Worcester, executive director of WAA. “DAR members around the country have long been part of the WAA family, supporting local efforts in every state.”

DAR’s President General Denise Doring VanBuren made the trip to Maine along with the Executive Committee of 11 National Officers to be there in person for the dedication of the DAR National Grove. 

“Now, we have the privilege of knowing that some of those wreaths will be made from the memorial grove that honors our Revolutionary War Patriots. As the descendants of America’s first veterans, this is a partnership that resonates deeply with our mission,” she added.

DAR members across the country can contact WAA and give information on their loved one. WAA’s dog tag machine allows the families of the veteran to customize their message for the tag which will be placed on a tree that will become their living memorial to their loved one. The trees are kept in production and their balsam tips are harvested every three years and made into veterans’ wreaths that are placed on headstones nationwide each December.

For further information, visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/remembrance-tree-program