Everlasting Gratitude Wreath Program honors Windham veterans

By Ed Pierce

Not many of us are thinking about Christmas in the middle of summer and holiday wreaths are not a hot topic for conversation when it’s 90 degrees outside, but for one local veterans’ organization, wreaths remain an important way to honor the men and women of Windham who ensured our freedom while wearing the military uniform of the United States.

American Legion Post 148 Auxiliary members gather during
last fall's Everlasting Gratitude Wreath program at 
Arlington Cemetery in Windham. From left are Pam
Whynot, Gail Labbe, Lin Tanguay and Maryann
Johnson. SUBMITTED PHOTO

American Legion Field-Allen Post 148 spearheads the annual effort to fundraise for Windham’s Everlasting Gratitude Wreath Program, which supplies holiday wreaths adorned with red, white, and blue ribbons for placement on veteran’s graves in town. Each December, more than 1,000 wreaths are placed in 24 different Windham cemeteries honoring the service of military veterans buried there.

The program was launched by Sebago Gardens in 2013 and continues today under the leadership of American Legion Post 148 in Windham.

Some of the local graves of veterans date back to the Colonial Era and the Revolutionary War and the graves of Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans can also be found in Windham.

Every year in early December, the Windham Everlasting Gratitude Wreath Program conducts a ceremony honoring the contributions of local veterans and follows that up with the placement of seasonal wreaths adorned with red, white, and blue ribbons. The special ceremony is coordinated with the laying of wreaths at the national cemeteries across America and includes placing a large, decorated wreath at each cemetery entrance in Windham.

Thanks to generous donations from local businesses and many members of the community, Windham’s American Legion Field-Allen Post 148 has been able to sponsor this popular program, but further donations from the public are needed to keep it viable. The Legion’s Everlasting Gratitude Wreath Program has zero overhead in expenses, and all donations are used to purchase wreaths, ribbons, and hardware.

Later this year, with approval and assistance from the Town of Windham, each veteran’s grave in town will have a shepherd’s crock placed on it about 30 inches high to hang the wreath on. These shepherd’s crocks allow volunteers to remove the wreaths easily when it is time to retrieve them rather than having to dig them out from under a pile of snow.

Fundraising for the Everlasting Gratitude Wreath Program starts in July because Post 148 needs to raise more than $6,000 every year to support the program and requires the funds to be available by September to pay for the massive wreath order, says David Tanguay, Post 148 adjutant.

“Once all the wreaths are ordered, the accompanying bows will be made by the American Legion family and local community volunteers and then matched to the wreaths when they arrive later in the fall,” he said. “We are still working with Libby Sawyer, the founder of the program. Although now the Legion Post does the funding and labor, she is still the vendor for the wreaths. Bows are made by the members of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 148.”

American Legion members are now actively contacting the Windham business community and mailings to support the program run throughout the remainder of July and August.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Everlasting Gratitude Wreath Program may do so by sending a check marked “Legion Wreaths,” to Legion Post 148 P.O. Box 1776, Windham, Maine 04062. Additional information will be provided as to when the bows will be made by volunteers at a location in town, and when the wreaths will be distributed in the cemeteries for those interested in helping to support this initiative.

The American Legion is a Federal designated 501 (c) 19 organization. <