Oconee Hill Cemetery to honor Athens area military veterans with national wreath ceremony

Wayne Ford, Athens Banner-Herald
·2 min read
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A Wreaths Across America wreath at Mars Hill Baptist Church in Watkinsville, Ga., on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Wreaths Across America works to place wreaths on graves in military cemeteries all over the country.
A Wreaths Across America wreath at Mars Hill Baptist Church in Watkinsville, Ga., on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Wreaths Across America works to place wreaths on graves in military cemeteries all over the country.

Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens will join other cemeteries across the nation this coming weekend in observing National Wreaths Across America Day.

This is the first year that Oconee Hill will join the observance in which wreaths are placed on the graves of all known veterans.

Local organizers are placing approximately 800 wreaths on graves in Oconee Hill on Saturday and the Friends of Oconee Hill Cemetery is encouraging people to drive through the cemetery Sunday on East Campus Road to see the display.

Also, from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, the historic Sexton House will be open for viewing. The house once served as the home of the cemetery’s sexton, who oversaw the upkeep of the cemetery.

Wreaths Across America is a program that began 31 years ago and has spread to locations across the nation.

Rachel Tribble with the Apalachee chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution works with other volunteers to organize 1,500 Wreaths Across America wreaths at Mars Hill Baptist Church in Watkinsville, Ga., on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Wreaths Across America works to place wreaths on graves in military cemeteries all over the country.
Rachel Tribble with the Apalachee chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution works with other volunteers to organize 1,500 Wreaths Across America wreaths at Mars Hill Baptist Church in Watkinsville, Ga., on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Wreaths Across America works to place wreaths on graves in military cemeteries all over the country.

The Apalachee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution based in Bogart encouraged Oconee Hill Cemetery to join the project earlier this year, according to Robin Towns, a founding member of the Apalachee Chapter and a current officer.

“It’s a wonderful program,” Towns said. “The goal is to have a wreath on the grave of every veteran in America.”

The wreaths are not just simply placed on a grave.

“We go to each grave and reverently say the name aloud of each veteran, then place the wreath on the grave,” she said. “It’s a very reverent ceremony.”

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The Apalachee chapter has now participated in Wreaths Across America going into its eighth year.

“We’ve put out probably 5,000 wreaths in that time, so our program is really growing,” she said.

The wreaths are laid out on Saturday. The DAR chapter also places wreaths at Mars Hill Baptist Church, Bethabara Baptist, Bogart Methodist, Bogart Baptist and the veterans section of Evergreen Memorial Cemetery.

The Wreaths Across America website reports that more than 2 million wreaths will be placed on veterans graves this Saturday at more than 4,000 locations.

Wreaths Across America began in Harrington, Maine, in 1992 when a company donated wreaths to veteran graves in Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C. A photo of the display went viral and soon others were emulating a practice that continues today.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Visit Oconee Hill Cemetery Sunday and view hundreds of wreaths