The Roy Historical Cemetery has partnered with Wreaths Across America for an event to honor veterans by laying a wreath at their headstone. The event will take place at 9 a.m., Dec. 14, 2024, at the cemetery, located at 8211 288th St. S.
Over a 13-day span in January, the cemetery collected a total of 151 wreaths after setting a goal of 160. For each wreath sponsored by a member of the local community, Wreaths Across America matched it. Roy Historical Cemetery, which opened in 1890, has approximately 150 veterans who served in a wide variety of branches and conflicts laid to rest at its site.
Jeri Carrano-Setzer, vice president of the cemetery’s executive team, has established partnerships with Wreaths Across America at several cemeteries in Washington state, including Camp Lewis at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and at Orting Cemetery. She has worked with the Roy Historical Cemetery since 2021 and has a special connection with it.
“My second great-grandfather fought in the Civil War, and he’s buried in that cemetery. My great-uncle is, too, and he fought in World War II,” Carrano-Setzer said. “I’m so excited for this opportunity. We have so many different wars represented, and the veterans are special. They fought for our country. To be able to bring Wreaths Across America to our cemetery and to be able to honor the veterans that hadn’t been honored in so long, it’s just a magical feeling.”
The ceremony on Dec. 14 will include the Pledge of Allegiance, the Star-Spangled Banner and a couple of speakers before the wreaths are placed on the headstones. The wreaths, which are cut from a forest in Massachusetts, will decorate the headstones for three to four weeks. Ceremonial wreaths for each branch of the military, including prisoners of war, those missing in action and Space Force, will be also set out, and the cemetery hopes to have a representative for each present at the ceremony.
Roy Historical Cemetery is looking for volunteers to help lay the wreaths and is still accepting sponsorships.
“Even though we only need nine for our goal, if we have an overage, we can count those toward next year. So the more support and sponsorship wreaths that we have, the more wreaths we can lay, even to the point where we can cover the entire cemetery,” Carrano-Setzer said.
Three million veteranswreaths were placed by over 3 million volunteers in 2023 as part of the Wreaths Across America event. There are 4,224 locations across the country and abroad and 6,717 sponsorship groups. To learn more about sponsorship wreaths and volunteer opportunities, visit http://tinyurl.com/yrhm62kj.
