WMHS students spearhead local ‘Wreaths Across America’ effort
BY PATRICIA KELLER
WEST MILFORD – The national nonprofit “Wreaths Across America” organization welcomed the Township as an official location in its 2018 campaign, thanks to the efforts of two dedicated students of West Milford High School.
Seniors Evan LeMay and Mathew Hoffman have worked tirelessly over the past nine months to arrange this event for their hometown heroes; and to support the the organization’s efforts in its mission to “Remember, Honor, Teach.”
Wreaths Across America is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
The organization’s mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each December by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.
The local event will be held on Dec. 15, beginning with a special ceremony at Veterans Park on Union Valley Road at 11:45 a.m., followed by a wreath laying ceremony at designated cemeteries within the Township: Cedar Heights Cemetery, St. Joseph’s Church Cemetery, and The West Milford Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
Remembrance wreaths will be placed by volunteers on the headstones of all local military heroes laid to rest there. LeMay and Hoffman hope to establish the program as an annual township event, to ensure these veterans will never be forgotten for their service and sacrifice to protect the freedoms of our country.
All residents are invited and encouraged to attend the ceremony at Veterans Park to honor West Milford veterans, those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country, and also those currently serving in the military.
Since this is the first year West Milford will participate in the national event, LeMay and Hoffman are asking residents for their help to make it a successful major event for the township.
They made presentations at a Township Council meeting, Board of Education meeting, a Rotary Club meeting, and at the Autumn Lights Festival.
They also created an interactive PowerPoint slideshow presentation for elementary students and visited several of the township’s elementary schools.
”(LeMay and Hoffman are) amazing young men with a good sense of committment and caring for the community,” BOE President Lynda VanDyk said. “The community and their parents should be extremely proud of the effort they have put forth to organize this wreath project. The entire school board is very supportive of their efforts for this important service project for the community.”
LeMay and Hoffman are seeking volunteers, monetary donations for wreaths, food donations for a volunteer luncheon, and help locating veterans interred at Cedar Heights Cemetery.
The goal for West Milford is to bring the community together in patriotic commemoration, and raise enough funds to place 700 remembrance wreaths on the headstones of all local veterans that are laid to rest in the participating cemeteries.
The two young men hope to also help provide wreaths for Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery in Maryland- which has 28,000 veterans interred, but typically only receives enough donations to cover the cost of wreaths for about half of them.
LeMay and Hoffman said the West Milford community has been very supportive of their endeavor. They are especially grateful to the Township, BOE, WMPD, DPW, Str8 Java, Macopin and Westbrook schools, Jordan Transportation, the Passaic County Sheriff's Department, the WM American Legion, and the many residents that have offered help via generous monetary and goods and services donations.
For more information, to sponsor wreaths, or to sign up to volunteer, please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/nj0103. You may also find info on Facebook at: Wreaths Across America-West Milford.