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This Saturday, for those interested who may not have already known ...
Participation at Arlington | Wreaths Across America
Schedule for Saturday 13th, Dec 2014
0700 Metro rail opens (system-wide)
0800 Arlington National Cemetery Gates open (Visitor Parking Garage opens at 7am for ANC Family Pass and Handicap Pass ONLY)
0815-0830 (approx) Wreaths Across America Truck Convoy arrives Arlington Cemetery Main Gate
0900 Wreaths Across America Opening Ceremony (McClellan Arch)
0930 Wreath laying begins across cemetery
1100 Wreath laying ceremony at President Kennedy’s grave
1130 Wreath laying ceremony at USS Maine Mast
1200 Wreath laying ceremony at Tomb of Unknown Soldier
To volunteer to place wreaths at Arlington, please join us at the McClellan Arch located on McClellan Drive between Sections 33 and 12 on Saturday, December 13, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. for the Opening Ceremony. The public will be allowed entry to the cemetery at 8:00 a.m. The ceremony will provide some introductory remarks and a short briefing to provide basic information to volunteers. After the ceremony, volunteers will move to the trucks located throughout the cemetery where they will participate in the laying of wreaths on headstones beginning at 9:30 a.m. We want to remind you that when you place the wreath, you may be the first person to visit that particular grave in years, so we hope you will take time to read the stone and honor the memory of that hero. Our theme for this year is “Remember, Honor and Teach – Don’t Say I Should Have, Say I Did.”
If you wish to attend, at 11:00 a.m. there will be a wreath laying ceremony at President John F. Kennedy’s grave site in Section 45; followed by an 11:30 a.m. wreath laying ceremony at the USS Battleship Maine’s Mast Memorial in Section 24. The final wreath ceremony will take place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at 12 Noon.
If WAA can reach its goal of having sufficient sponsorships to be able to place a Remembrance Wreath on every grave marker at Arlington this December, after the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown, there will also be a brief wreath laying ceremony in Section 27 at the tomb of William Christman, the first military veteran to be buried at Arlington over 150 years ago. Details of this ceremony will be posted on the web sites later.
We highly encourage Metro use as parking within the cemetery itself will be very restricted. While the Arlington Cemetery Station on the Blue Line stops at the cemetery entrance, you can also access various parts of the Cemetery from the Rosslyn, Pentagon, and Pentagon City stops via only a short walk. To support our Metro traveling volunteers, we will have multiple gates open to provide pedestrian access to the Cemetery. In addition, we hope to have parking spaces at the Pentagon, Navy Annex, and Fort Myer.
Parking at the ANC Welcome Center Parking Facility will be very restricted. No private vehicles will be allowed to enter the Cemetery grounds until after 3:00pm on Wreath Day. ANC officials have advised they plan to open the parking garage at 7:00am only to individuals with an authorized ANC Family Pass. Also, they will allow visiting buses to park in the garage. Once the bus section is full they we will direct the buses to an additional parking area. Vehicles with valid Handicap Permits will also be allowed to enter the Parking Facility starting at 7:00am, and will be later directed out into the Cemetery itself through the Administration Building gate to park in the Administrative Parking lot.There will be no General Public parking at the Welcome Center until after 1:00pm on Wreath Day.
A CALL TO ACTION
Last year, even with over 143,000 wreaths placed at Arlington, the markers of over 87,000 of our American Heroes buried there did not receive a Remembrance Wreath. Remember, WAA receives no government funds for what they do. WAA must rely on donations and sponsorships to complete its mission to Remember, Honor and Teach. We need you and your friends to help us reach our goal to cover all of the graves at Arlington. The cost is only $15 per wreath, a small price to honor and remember those who have given us our freedoms with their sacrifices. You can click on the below link which will take you directly to WAA’s Arlington Cemetery web site where you can sponsor a wreath or two by clicking on the red sponsor tab under the word “Sponsor a Wreath For Arlington” on the left side of the page and completing the information.
It’s not too late to sponsor a wreath for Arlington!
Also, Wreaths Across America (WAA) is now listed in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) program, so if you participate in the CFC program at your work, please consider selecting WAA, CFC Code #66860, when making your selection to contribute.
As for being able to place a wreath on a specific grave site of a friend or loved one; we expect in excess of 15,000 volunteers on the 13th and it would be impossible to “save” a particular grave site for a person to place a wreath. My best suggestion would be for you to bring a friend or relative with you to Arlington on the 13th and arrive early so you can enter the gates starting at 8:00am when the Cemetery will be open to the Public to enter. Then have your friend or relative go directly to your friend’s or loved one’s grave site to stand by the site while you go to the closest wreath truck location to await receiving a wreath which will begin at about 9:30am. Then should another volunteer come up to place a wreath on that site, the person standing by the site could request the volunteer to move to another grave as you are bringing a wreath for that site. That’s the best we can do.
Keep looking to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ArlingtonWreaths and website Wreaths Across America | Our Mission: Remember | Honor | & Teach for more details, driving directions, etc. later.
Again I thank you for your interest and support.
Wayne Hanson
Arlington Wreath Project Coordinator
Clean up volunteers are always needed too. Clean up at Arlington National Cemetery will take place on Saturday January 24, 2015. For more information contact Mr. Wayne Hanson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at driftabit@aol.com.
No other formal registration or sign-up is required. Just show up at the designated time and place.
Thank You!
Participation at Arlington | Wreaths Across America
Schedule for Saturday 13th, Dec 2014
0700 Metro rail opens (system-wide)
0800 Arlington National Cemetery Gates open (Visitor Parking Garage opens at 7am for ANC Family Pass and Handicap Pass ONLY)
0815-0830 (approx) Wreaths Across America Truck Convoy arrives Arlington Cemetery Main Gate
0900 Wreaths Across America Opening Ceremony (McClellan Arch)
0930 Wreath laying begins across cemetery
1100 Wreath laying ceremony at President Kennedy’s grave
1130 Wreath laying ceremony at USS Maine Mast
1200 Wreath laying ceremony at Tomb of Unknown Soldier
To volunteer to place wreaths at Arlington, please join us at the McClellan Arch located on McClellan Drive between Sections 33 and 12 on Saturday, December 13, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. for the Opening Ceremony. The public will be allowed entry to the cemetery at 8:00 a.m. The ceremony will provide some introductory remarks and a short briefing to provide basic information to volunteers. After the ceremony, volunteers will move to the trucks located throughout the cemetery where they will participate in the laying of wreaths on headstones beginning at 9:30 a.m. We want to remind you that when you place the wreath, you may be the first person to visit that particular grave in years, so we hope you will take time to read the stone and honor the memory of that hero. Our theme for this year is “Remember, Honor and Teach – Don’t Say I Should Have, Say I Did.”
If you wish to attend, at 11:00 a.m. there will be a wreath laying ceremony at President John F. Kennedy’s grave site in Section 45; followed by an 11:30 a.m. wreath laying ceremony at the USS Battleship Maine’s Mast Memorial in Section 24. The final wreath ceremony will take place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers at 12 Noon.
If WAA can reach its goal of having sufficient sponsorships to be able to place a Remembrance Wreath on every grave marker at Arlington this December, after the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown, there will also be a brief wreath laying ceremony in Section 27 at the tomb of William Christman, the first military veteran to be buried at Arlington over 150 years ago. Details of this ceremony will be posted on the web sites later.
We highly encourage Metro use as parking within the cemetery itself will be very restricted. While the Arlington Cemetery Station on the Blue Line stops at the cemetery entrance, you can also access various parts of the Cemetery from the Rosslyn, Pentagon, and Pentagon City stops via only a short walk. To support our Metro traveling volunteers, we will have multiple gates open to provide pedestrian access to the Cemetery. In addition, we hope to have parking spaces at the Pentagon, Navy Annex, and Fort Myer.
Parking at the ANC Welcome Center Parking Facility will be very restricted. No private vehicles will be allowed to enter the Cemetery grounds until after 3:00pm on Wreath Day. ANC officials have advised they plan to open the parking garage at 7:00am only to individuals with an authorized ANC Family Pass. Also, they will allow visiting buses to park in the garage. Once the bus section is full they we will direct the buses to an additional parking area. Vehicles with valid Handicap Permits will also be allowed to enter the Parking Facility starting at 7:00am, and will be later directed out into the Cemetery itself through the Administration Building gate to park in the Administrative Parking lot.There will be no General Public parking at the Welcome Center until after 1:00pm on Wreath Day.
A CALL TO ACTION
Last year, even with over 143,000 wreaths placed at Arlington, the markers of over 87,000 of our American Heroes buried there did not receive a Remembrance Wreath. Remember, WAA receives no government funds for what they do. WAA must rely on donations and sponsorships to complete its mission to Remember, Honor and Teach. We need you and your friends to help us reach our goal to cover all of the graves at Arlington. The cost is only $15 per wreath, a small price to honor and remember those who have given us our freedoms with their sacrifices. You can click on the below link which will take you directly to WAA’s Arlington Cemetery web site where you can sponsor a wreath or two by clicking on the red sponsor tab under the word “Sponsor a Wreath For Arlington” on the left side of the page and completing the information.
It’s not too late to sponsor a wreath for Arlington!
Also, Wreaths Across America (WAA) is now listed in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) program, so if you participate in the CFC program at your work, please consider selecting WAA, CFC Code #66860, when making your selection to contribute.
As for being able to place a wreath on a specific grave site of a friend or loved one; we expect in excess of 15,000 volunteers on the 13th and it would be impossible to “save” a particular grave site for a person to place a wreath. My best suggestion would be for you to bring a friend or relative with you to Arlington on the 13th and arrive early so you can enter the gates starting at 8:00am when the Cemetery will be open to the Public to enter. Then have your friend or relative go directly to your friend’s or loved one’s grave site to stand by the site while you go to the closest wreath truck location to await receiving a wreath which will begin at about 9:30am. Then should another volunteer come up to place a wreath on that site, the person standing by the site could request the volunteer to move to another grave as you are bringing a wreath for that site. That’s the best we can do.
Keep looking to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ArlingtonWreaths and website Wreaths Across America | Our Mission: Remember | Honor | & Teach for more details, driving directions, etc. later.
Again I thank you for your interest and support.
Wayne Hanson
Arlington Wreath Project Coordinator
Clean up volunteers are always needed too. Clean up at Arlington National Cemetery will take place on Saturday January 24, 2015. For more information contact Mr. Wayne Hanson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at driftabit@aol.com.
No other formal registration or sign-up is required. Just show up at the designated time and place.
Thank You!
