Photo by Calvin Nuttall. Volunteer Josh Grant lays a wreath on the headstone of a veteran during the Wreaths Across America event Dec. 14 at Mt. Hope Cemetery.


Thousands of wreaths laid in Morgan Hill and Gilroy

By Calvin Nuttall

Volunteers and community members gathered at cemeteries in Morgan Hill and Gilroy Dec. 14 to remember those who have served in the U.S. armed forces.

Wreaths Across America is a non-profit organization that honors veterans by laying wreaths upon their gravesites at more than 4,000 locations across the United States and abroad. The chapter in South County which organizes the ceremonies at local cemeteries was founded in 2013 by current Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner.

“At the time, knowing there were just over 1,200 veterans buried between Morgan Hill and Gilroy, this was something we wanted to do,” Turner said during the wreath-laying activities at Mt. Hope Cemetery. “It has expanded from there, with greater volunteer participation every year.”

Due to a thunderstorm at the original scheduled time of the Wreaths event on Saturday, the usual ceremonies were canceled and the wreath-laying postponed to the afternoon. Nevertheless, numerous volunteers braved driving rain and intense gusts to pay their respects at the original 9 a.m. time, including husband and wife Jerry and Stacy Bell.

“Being interactive with the laying of the wreaths I think is very profound, and good for our children to see,” Stacy said. “I know there are safety reasons (the ceremony was postponed), but at the same time, we’re here because it doesn’t matter what the weather is. The soldiers didn’t have a choice.”

This year, the South County branch of the nonprofit raised more than $18,000 to purchase wreaths to lay on the gravesites at Mt. Hope, as well as the Saint Mary’s and Gavilan Hills cemeteries in Gilroy. The wreaths are shipped all over the country by volunteer truckers from Columbia Falls, Maine, where Wreaths Across America is headquartered.

“It really goes back to what the core mission of Wreaths Across America is,” Turner said. “To honor, remember, and teach. Honoring those who have served, remembering that freedom isn’t free, and teaching the next generation that very core value. We have some younger kids here, and this is designed to help them understand and know what people have sacrificed.”

Photo by Calvin Nuttall. Volunteer Stacy Bell lays a wreath. Her husband Jerry Bell is in the background laying a wreath as well.

Wreaths Across America began its annual tradition 30 years ago, when the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine found itself with a surplus of 5,000 Christmas wreaths left over at the end of the holiday season. Rather than dispose of them, owner Morrill Worcester elected instead to personally transport them to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, to lay them on the graves of the veterans buried there.

“This thing has gone nationwide now,” said volunteer coordinator Larry Carr. “Every one of these wreaths came from Columbia Falls, Maine, and are shipped here by trucks. The truck drivers are all volunteers. Our wreaths arrived yesterday morning down at Little Uvas Vineyard, and my team of volunteers from Morgan Hill loaded them up in a trailer and brought them here yesterday to Mt. Hope. Then we distributed them throughout the cemetery, pre-positioning them in the areas where the veterans’ graves are.”

Despite the persistent rain, dozens more locals made their way to the cemeteries in Morgan Hill and Gilroy to participate in the wreath-laying, including veterans, friends and family of veterans, and schoolchildren.

“I wanted the kids to see and get a taste of the community paying it back to our veterans,” said Jerry Bell, volunteer. “My dad’s side of the family were army. I don’t think our veterans get enough support or respect.”

In the short window of clear weather that appeared in the afternoon, the rest of the volunteers came out in force to complete the laying of the wreaths en masse.

“I am surprised at the turnout,” Turner said. “Over these 11 years, we have really seen committed volunteers come out on the day of. This is the first time we’ve had to cancel the ceremony in 11 years, because of the weather. I wasn’t expecting this many people to come in spite of that.”

Calvin Nuttall is a Morgan Hill-based freelance reporter and columnist.