Residents in Chichester and Concord have spoken.
They want to remember their late veterans, every last one of them, so they’ve attached themselves to the Wreaths Across America program, now in its 30th year, which coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at 3,000 participating cemeteries across the United States.
Cemetery trustees and historical society staffers in Chichester and Concord have hopped aboard, joining a nationwide event, slated for Saturday, that aims to remember and honor those who served, as well as teach the history of sacrifice in this country. Today’s students, most educational leaders agree, don’t know nearly enough about history.
Organizers in Chichester sought sponsorship dollars and volunteers, figuring support for the 25 local veterans who served in the Revolutionary War would be terrific.
Instead, support came in for all the Chichester veterans, 210 of them, from all wars, buried in the town’s 21 cemeteries. Saturday, each gravesite will receive a wreath. Each veteran’s name will be read aloud.
“It’s amazing how many people we have working on this,” said Fred Shaw, a cemetery trustee who works for Chichester’s Historical Society. “We still have people who want to do it, but we have to say that we don’t need them.”
The Concord effort is cooking, too. Blossom Hill, Old North and Old Fort Cemeteries will host wreath-laying ceremonies on Saturday as well. Starting time is 10 a.m., when volunteers will congregate, in big cities and small towns, to stage their individually-choreographed ceremony.
Blossom Hill has secured funding for 1,495 wreaths, 37 percent of its goal; Old Fort has 74 wreaths, already exceeding its goal of 42; Old North secured 200 wreaths.
Similar loyalty has surfaced in Chichester.
“It’s been fantastic,” said Brenda Boswak, who is in her first year holding positions as a cemetery trustee and on the Historical Society. “The town has really expressed their interest in honoring our veterans this way.”
Boswak is well seasoned in the landscape, saying, “I am a townie,” adding that her family dates back eight generations in Chichester.
She’s been helped by people like Shaw and Ruthie Hammen, forming a coalition with an easy-to-remember, yet hard-to-follow goal. In a nutshell, it’s all about appreciation. Certainly not too much to ask.
Hammen also fits well here. She’s been a cemetery trustee for 10 years and is the curator for the Chichester Historical Society. She was born inside her home in Chichester 81 years ago.
“We are flabbergasted by the response,” Hammen said. “I never thought we would get them all for the Revolutionary War, and look what happened.”
What happened was a town stood stiffly, at attention, as one, and snapped off a crisp salute to say, well, thanks. In words and actions.
The response was hard-charging immediately, with the number of volunteers and sponsors growing like a stubborn weed in one of the town’s many cemeteries.
At last count, 61 volunteers had registered to help out Saturday, in any way needed.
Ceremonies at the cemeteries begin at 10 a.m. In Chichester, volunteers will gather at the flagpole near the town hall, site of the monument honoring the five branches of military service, and naming the 210 veterans – from the Revolutionary War through Vietnam – who have since passed away.
(Boswak, Hammen and Shaw helped bring the monument to town 23 years ago).
At least one representative from the military is scheduled to lay a wreath at the foot of the monument. Then, volunteers will be dispersed through town, to the 21 cemeteries in Chichester that serve as the final resting places for Granite State veterans who served in the military.
In a buildup to Saturday, a week-long convoy of police sirens and tractor-trailers left Maine, where the idea was born 30 years ago, and move down the east coast, stopping at different places.
In all, thousands of gravesites at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries in all 50 states will be recognized on Dec. 18, when the official escort and the final wreath end their journey at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
The tributes here are more personal. Names are engraved in granite. Families still live here. More people than expected have signed up for this, especially in Chichester.
“In these times, this is a fantastic response,” Boswak said. “It’s a wonderful thing, knowing these veterans have their town’s support.”