100K wreaths headed to Arlington Cemetery

100K wreaths headed to Arlington Cemetery
By Clarke Canfield - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 5, 2011

WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA Wreaths donated by Wreaths Across America adorn gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery in 2010. In his biggest wreath-laying undertaking yet, Wreaths Across America founder Morrill Worcester has arranged for up to 100,000 wreaths to be placed on gravesites at the military cemetery.

PORTLAND, Maine — Twenty years ago, wreath company owner Morrill Worcester and a dozen other people laid 5,000 wreaths on headstones at Arlington National Cemetery. It was Worcester's way of giving thanks to the nation's veterans with leftover unsold wreaths.

This year, Worcester has arranged for up to 100,000 wreaths to be placed on gravesites at the military cemetery on Dec. 10 in his biggest wreath-laying undertaking yet.

A convoy of more than 20 trucks left Worcester Wreath Co. in the eastern Maine town of Harrington on Sunday to begin the six-day journey to the cemetery in Arlington, Va., outside Washington. The cemetery is the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of veterans and a tourist site that draws 4 million visitors a year. Along the way, there'll be ceremonies at schools, veterans' homes and in communities in Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
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