By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

What’s a wreath company to do with too many wreaths? If the owners are
Morrill and Karen Worchester of Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington,
they use the greenery as a means to “remember, honor and teach.”

On Monday morning, after a night in South Portland, a tractor-trailer,
emblazoned with those words in large, red block letters, rolled into
the snow-covered parking lot of the Maine Veterans’ Home on Route 1 in
Scarborough, near the front of a convoy bound for Arlington National
Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The group spent the night in a South
Portland hotel and rose early in the morning to get on the road.

Some of the Maine Veterans’ Home’s 150 residents watched from the
window-lined corridor as the Worcesters and their escorts – members of
the Civil Air Patrol, Patriot Guard Riders and Cape Elizabeth police
officers – made their way inside for a visit.  It was one of
nearly 26 stops the group planned to make on a 750-mile journey from
Maine to Virginia.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Karen Worcester, after greeting the
residents and thanking the veterans for their service. “It’s an honor
to go to Arlington, but it’s even more of an honor to be able to thank
these people while they’re still here.”

Wreaths Across America began nearly 16 years ago, when Morrill
Worcester said he had too many wreaths on his hands. Reluctant to throw
them away, the husband and wife sought a use for the decorations.
Morrill Worcester’s childhood trip to Arlington was the couple’s
inspiration. Since 1992, Worcester Wreath Company has donated some
75,000 wreaths, which are placed on veterans’ graves each December.

This year, Worcester Wreath Company doubled its annual Arlington
donation to 10,000 wreaths and also donated 2,500 wreaths to the Maine
Veterans’ Cemetery in Augusta, according to the organization’s Web
site. More than 1,800 ceremonial wreaths will be donated to more than
200 state and national veterans cemeteries across the nation and
wreaths will also be donated to all state houses, 24 veterans
cemeteries overseas and to U.S. ships sailing around the world.

Volunteers gathered in Harrington on Sunday to decorate thousands of
wreaths with bright red bows. While the weather may cause some delays
or even force the procession to cancel some stops, Patriot Guard Rider
John O’Leary said the group planned to stop in some 196 communities,
visiting schools, veterans groups and any other organizations that
requested a visit. The group plans to reach Arlington on Saturday.

John O’Leary and his wife Bunny O’Leary organized the entire route from
Maine to Virginia. He said the Patriot Guard Riders, a national group
of motorcycle enthusiasts, attend military funerals and help shield
families from protestors, greet soldiers at airports, participate in
parades and attend veterans’ events.

“There are a lot of caring, patriotic people in this country and
setting this up shows me patriotism is alive and well in this country,”
said John O’Leary before the event. “No matter what your political
beliefs are, it’s all about the soldiers. It feels good to do something
this important.”

This year, for the first time, John O’Leary said families of veterans
who served in Iraq and Afghanistan will receive wreaths to place on
their soldiers’ graves in a private ceremony at Arlington.

Commenting on the event, after the convoy had departed for its next
stop in Old Orchard Beach, Gerald Coffey, originally from Boston, said
he’s “come to the conclusion that Maine does more for the veterans than
any other state.”

Coffey, 88, was a member of the U.S. First Marine Division and in 1942,
he fought in the first American offensive against the Japanese for
possession of the Pacific island, Guadalcanal.

“The Japanese navy came in right offshore and kept throwing those huge
shells,” Coffey said. “We had nothing at the beginning of the war.”

Coffey, who enlisted 10 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, said the
men subsisted mainly on hard-boiled eggs, rice, fish heads and
coconuts, which gave them dysentery.

“We were a sad lot,” he said. “When we got out of there, we looked like death warmed over.”

After leaving Scarborough, the convoy traveled to Old Orchard Beach and
Jameson Elementary School, where they presented a wreath and addressed
students, including those from Loranger Middle School.

While the convoy was running nearly half an hour behind schedule, local
residents braved the snowy weather to welcome the convoy.

“We are here to show patriotic support for all of our soldiers,” said
Beth Smith, an Old Orchard Beach resident. Smith said her grandson is a
Marine and is just beginning boot camp.

Referring to the students waiting to meet the convoy, Smith said,
“Unfortunately some of the generations today don’t support the troops
like they once did, but it’s good to see the kids out here.”

“We want to teach the kids the value of what we have,” said Karen Worcester. “We want the kids to be proud to be an American.”

Morrill Worcester added, “Freedom isn’t free [and] the freedom we all have is really because of the veterans.”

To learn more about Wreaths Across America, visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.