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Saturday morning, a handful of members from the Adams-Onis Treaty Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) gathered under a shady tree in the Oakland Cemetery.
They were joined by a few citizens and the reigning Mrs. Florida America, Eddah Wanyoike. The group had assembled to lay Christmas wreaths on veterans’ gravesites in that cemetery and in the Oakland-Tildenville Cemetery where Black veterans were laid to rest. Seventy-two veterans are buried in the town's two cemeteries, according to a press release the Winter Garden-based DAR chapter had issued about the event.
Chapter Regent Wanda Kenney opened the brief ceremony, saying that they were there “to remember the fallen, honor those that have served and their families and to teach the next generation the value of our freedom.”
Joshua Metz of Winter Garden, a friend of Kenney's family, played Taps and Amazing Grace on the trumpet.
“This is an honor to serve and it’s also a duty as a trumpet player to give back, to pay homage and respect for those who have served and also in remembrance,” he said. “My mom served in the military. She passed in 2016 and I played Taps at her funeral, so it’s something that means a great deal to me. “
Kenney later told VoxPopuli that she has been laying wreaths on veterans' gravesites for more than five years — longer than she’s been a member of DAR. She has two brothers and nieces and nephews in the military.
“I do it to honor them, and it’s important for the DAR to come and do this," she said. "This is part of our service to veterans, which is part of our mission. We’re standing here today in a free country because of the lives that were lost for our freedom, so it’s very very important.”
Saturday's wreath laying was part of National Wreaths Across America Day, which grew out of the annual tradition of laying wreaths to honor the fallen at Arlington National Cemetery, begun in 1992.
Wreaths Across America reported that 3.1 million wreaths were laid at 5,598 locations nationwide on Saturday — including at Arlington National Cemetery where wreaths were placed on 265,000 gravesites.
According to the nonprofit organization, “fresh evergreens have been used to symbolize honor and serve as a living tribute, renewed annually. Wreaths Across America believes the tradition represents a living memorial that honors veterans, active-duty military and their families.”
“My dad is a veteran, starting at West Point. He retired as a general,” said Sylvia Hilton, a member of the local DAR chapter's Service to Veterans Committee who had come to help lay wreaths, adorned with a single red ribbon, on veterans' gravesites. She said her father was an infantryman who served two tours in Vietnam. “It’s nice knowing that someone is putting down a wreath up there [for him] at Arlington National, and I’m doing the same thing here.”
Marcea Oetting, a founding member of the chapter, now its honorary regent, was widowed at 26 with a young child when her husband was killed by a drunk driver. Now 55, she understands some of the conflicting emotions that the holidays can bring.
“The holidays are … they're bittersweet. Even years later, they're still bittersweet,” she said. “I don't understand fully, but I understand slightly how this can be an interesting time of year. Even if you can see just a picture, that someone remembered them, besides you, I think that's what makes this special."
