Orders being taken for wreaths

The Tucumcari chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is taking orders for Christmas wreaths to be given to area veterans or placed on a veteran’s grave as part of the annual Wreaths Across America.

Wreaths will be placed Dec. 14 on veterans’ graves at Tucumcari Memorial Park cemetery.

Wreaths, which cost $15, can be ordered by phone at (575) 403-6959, mailed to Susan Taylor at 2202 S. Second St., Tucumcari, NM 88401 or online at https://www.wreathsacross

america.org/NM0059P

Wreaths should be ordered by phone or mail by Nov. 30. The deadline for online orders is Dec. 1.

The idea for Wreaths Across America began in 1992 when Morrill Worcester, who owned Worcester Wreath Co., in Harrington, Maine, had a surplus of wreaths near the end of the holiday season. Arrangements were made for the wreaths to be placed at Arlington National Cemetery in one of its older sections that had been receiving fewer visitors with each passing year.

This annual ceremony has grown each year. In 2007, the Worcester family, along with individuals and other groups, formed Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit 501c3 organization, to continue this effort. Wreaths Across America has laid more than 700,000 memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations across the U.S.