Steven Meyer believes if we all just got together and helped each other out, it would be a lot better world.
Meyer, 43, a driver for Arpin Van Lines, a national company based in West Warwick, volunteers his services and the gas to drive a truckload of wreaths from Columbia Falls, Maine, to Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia, as part of Wreaths Across America.
Dave Vieira, Arpins senior vice president of operations, has helped me tremendously in allowing me to do things I want to do, Meyer said Friday, while waiting for his truck to be inspected at a garage in Warwick. He will make the 13-hour trip over two days this week, arriving at Arlington for National Wreaths Across America Day, on Dec. 13.
Arpin Van Lines is going to put a Wreaths Across America wrap on a brand-new trailer for me, said the driver from Virginia, who already has the side of his sleeper unit painted with wreaths, the charitys name and a view of Arlington Cemetery. Hes been working for Arpin for 18 months.
Wreaths Across America is observed in Rhode Island in three parts. The first part is Monday at the State House, when dignitaries will gather in the State Room at noon and continue with a wreath-laying ceremony at 12:20 p.m. in the Garden of Heroes on the State Houses southwest grounds.
The second part is a remembrance ceremony for veterans Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Ponaganset Middle School, in Glocester. The public is welcome.
The third part takes place at noon on Saturday at veterans cemeteries in Exeter, Lincoln, the West Bay, Burrillville and Scituate.
While it is true that we have other days during the year when we recognize the bravery and dedication of our men and women in uniform, it is at this holiday time of year that those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom are truly missed, said Rep. Jan P. Malik, a Democrat who represents Barrington and Warren and is chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.
At many homes around the state this holiday season, there will be an empty seat for one who is serving or who was lost defending our nation, Malik said.
Wreaths Across America sprang from a gesture in 1992, when Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Co., of Harrington, Maine, arranged to have his surplus wreaths placed in one of the older sections of Arlington. Groups offered to help with the transportation, adding red bows and placing the wreaths.
After several years, the effort grew too big for one company, so the nonprofit Wreaths Across America was formed. It has grown to include ceremonies at hundreds of locations across the country, involving nearly half a million wreaths. Individuals can donate $15 at the charitys website to sponsor a wreath, at wreathsacrossamerica.org. Because this is the 150th anniversary of Arlington Cemetery, the charity hopes to have enough wreaths to place at all 230,000 graves there.
Meyer, who said that last year he drove between 3,500 and 5,000 wreaths from a company in Maine to Arlington Cemetery, remembers a moment when he was helping to unload wreaths to volunteers. An older woman thanked me for what I did. She had someone buried in that section. She was crying when she thanked me as a driver. When I think about it, I get choked up.
Meyer, who grew up in a military family, said, We need to make sure this program stays [in the] forefront because so many people have signed up to go into the service. And one day their loved ones are not going to be here, he said. I just want the whole country to know about the program. Its very important.
You go to a national cemetery like Arlington, theres guys that are buried in that cemetery right now, they dont have a family member thats alive. Theyre forgotten.
Volunteers who place the wreaths are encouraged to take a moment to read the name on each headstone. You cant help but read the names, Meyer said, see when he was born, see when he passed away. For that split second in time, that persons remembered.
