Maine wreaths laid at Arlington National Cemetery
Dec 15, 2013, 2:39 AM
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) – Tens of thousands of wreaths made in Maine have been laid at graves at Arlington National Cemetery.
Trucks carrying about 143,000 balsam wreaths began rolling toward the Washington, D.C.-area cemetery Dec. 8. They arrived Saturday.
All told, the Columbia Falls-based nonprofit Wreaths Across America expects to ship more than 500,000 wreaths to adorn veterans’ graves across the country and overseas this holiday season.
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine say the Senate has passed a resolution designating Saturday as “Wreaths Across America Day.”
The wreath-laying tradition began in 1992, when the owner of Worcester Wreath Co. ended up with extra wreaths and shipped them to Arlington.
Next year, for Arlington’s 150th anniversary, the organization wants to place a wreath on every headstone _ about 230,000 of them.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
