‘Christmas Honors’ places 12,000 wreaths at Fort Smith National Cemetery

photos by Joel Rafkin; story by Michael Tilley

The cold, cutting wind was no match for the hundreds of families, veterans and volunteers who showed up early Saturday (Dec. 12) morning — two hours early in some cases — to help place 12,000 wreaths at the headstones in the Fort Smith National Cemetery.

Placing the wreaths is part of the “Christmas Honors” project of the Education & Quality of Place division of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce. According to the chamber, the effort is designed “to help honor the servicemen and women of our community, who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.”

The group has raised more than $55,000 toward its goal of at least $60,000 to cover the upfront costs of buying the wreaths.

Zeal of volunteers and family members to place the wreaths had many at the Fort Smith National Cemetery prior to the scheduled 8:30 a.m. start, said Whitney Yoder, vice president of program development & implementation for the chamber.

The original schedule was for family members to be able to place wreaths on headstones between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., with friends and volunteers then able to place wreaths from 9:30 a.m. until the final wreath is placed. But by 10 a.m., all 12,000 wreaths had been placed, said a smiling Yoder, who said the response and volunteer support helped the process run smooth and be more successful than they could have hoped for.

“We had a lot of (service member) families come out,” Yoder explained. “But we also had a Junior ROTC group, and they were a big help. We had Walmart employees and Boy Scouts and we had families who just came out because they wanted to share this with their children.”

While there was no official headcount, most estimates placed at more than 1,000 the number of volunteers who helped prepare the wreaths, ship them to the cemetery and place them at each headstone. (Link here for a video clip of the prep work, and link here  for a report on the planning involved in the effort.)

Philip Merry, who is responsible for pushing the idea to the chamber of placing the wreaths, said he was emotionally overwhelmed by the support and the scene of a wreath at each headstone.

There will be a candlelight vigil at 5:30 p.m., Dec. 14 at the Fort Smith National Cemetery for friends, family and the community.

Yoder said the wreaths will remain until Jan. 10, at which time volunteers will again be needed to help for loading and transport. She said Baldor Electric Co. has generously offered to provide its trucks and trailers for transport and warehouse space for storing the wreaths.

Link here for a 4-minute video highlighting the Saturday event.