This holiday season, nearly 1,000 headstones and grave markers at Gethsemane Cemetery will be adorned with wreaths to honor the veterans buried there.
The cemetery in Muhlenberg Township is participating for the first time this year in National Wreaths Across America Day, which aims to remember the sacrifices of those who served.
The initiative, organized by the nonprofit Wreaths Across America, placed about 3 million wreaths on veterans’ graves throughout the U.S. in 2023, according to a release from Gethsemane Cemetery.
Gethsemane will hold its own wreath laying ceremony on Dec. 14 at noon when staff and volunteers will help place the wreaths.
The wreaths carry weight for Tim Kolasa, cemetery executive director, who served in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm in 1990.
“Berks County has a huge history of veterans,” Kolasa said. “Paying tribute to our veterans is important, and we thought that Wreaths Across America was a great way to recognize them.”
Kolasa noted that others in his family also served, including his father-in-law who served in Vietnam, and his son, who recently served four years in the Marine Corps.
“This program is very near to my heart as well as to the hearts of all of us at Gethsemane Cemetery,” Kolasa said in the release. “We have been and will continue to be grateful for those who sacrificed all by laying down their lives in defense of freedom as well as support the men and women currently serving in the armed forces.”
About 5,000 veterans are laid to rest at Gethsemane. Their service spans World War I, World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf wars, according to the cemetery.
“It’s a big number of veterans,” Kolasa said. “About 10 percent of the people buried here.”
Kolasa said Gethsemane’s goal is to get a wreath for every veteran at the cemetery.
“We’ve hit just about 20 percent of our goal,” Kolasa said. “For the first year, I thought it went pretty well.”
Kolasa said the wreaths will remain on the graves as long as possible, until they start to dry out.
He said Gethsemane plans to hold the wreath laying event in years to come as well.
“We’re going to start right after the first of the (new) year with awareness to try to get more people to volunteer and sponsor wreaths for next year,” Kolasa said.
Those interested in volunteering or sponsoring a wreath at Gethsemane can visit the cemetery’s website, gethcem.com, for more information.
Wreaths Across America was founded to continue and expand the annual wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992, according to the organization’s website.