For the third season local organizers of Wreaths Across America are asking the community to participate in the event to honor those who served their country in the military.

At noon on Saturday, Dec. 13, volunteers will place live wreaths on the graves at Soldiers’ Plot at Woodland Cemetery. The wreaths will decorate those graves for about a month.

“I think because we are concentrating on so many other things, we have a tendency to forget we are so fortunate simply because of the veterans,” said Juanita Southers, one of the organizers of the Wreaths’ event in Ironton. “Some of the veterans no longer have family in town or no longer have families.

The organizers’ goal is to decorate the close to 1,000 graves of every veteran in Soldiers’ Plot. The first year enough donations were made to buy 360 wreaths, but because the company that supplies the wreaths made additional donations 980 graves were decorated. For every two that are ordered the company donates an additional one.

Each wreath costs $15. If someone wants to take a wreath to decorate another section of the cemetery or take home, three wreaths must be purchased with two going to the cemetery.

“The cemetery is so beautiful on Memorial Day and now it is at Christmastime,” Southers said. “Last Christmas there were four men standing on the road (by the section) and one had a handkerchief wiping away tears.”

The wreath-laying will be preceded by a ceremony where veterans are invited to participate. That starts at noon. The actual wreath-laying takes about an hour. On Jan. 10, the wreaths are removed.

Donations can be made to Wreaths Across America, in care of Citizens Depository Bank, 221 Railroad St., Ironton.

For more information Southers can be contacted at 740-532-0181 or Linda Dalton at 740-533-0893.