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By Arleth Garcia
The owner of Worcester Wreath Company of Herrington, Morrill Worcester, was a 12-year-old paper boy who had won a trip to Washington D.C. It was his first to the nation’s capital and one that would change his life, and the lives of many others across the country. When visiting he saw hundreds of graves and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arlington National Cemetery. It was an experience that would affect him and hundreds of others across the country, it would also follow him throughout his career and he would always look back at it.
In 1992, as the holiday season was getting close to an end, Worcester realized they had many wreaths. When seeing all the extra wreaths he thought back to all the unknown soldiers at the Arlington National Cemetery, and he saw he had a chance to honor our country's veterans. With those extra wreaths he had they were arranged to be placed in the older sections of the Arlington cemetery, where there had been fewer visitors each year, he got the help of Senator Olympic Snowe of Maine. While they were still working on a plan to get the wreaths to Washington, many others, and organizations volunteered and helped out.
The owner of a local trucking company Blue Bird Ranch, Inc., James Prout, provided the transportation to Virginia. Every wreath was decorated with traditional red hand-tied bows, by volunteers from the local American Legion and VFW Posts. The wreaths were laid by members of the Maine State Society of Washington D.C., they included a special ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
It went on annually quietly and privately for over a decade. When a picture of the stones with the wreaths covered in snow at Arlington went viral all over the internet in 2005. Then the homespun tribute from a small town in down east Main gained national attention. People from all over the country sent in thousands of requests to help with the cost and placement of the wreaths. Many others wanted to share their stories and thank Morrill for honoring the nation's heroes. Unable to send to every state Worchester began sending seven wreaths to every state one for each military branch and an additional wreath to pay tribute to POW/MIAs. In 2006, more than 150 places nationwide hosted simultaneous wreath-laying ceremonies aided by the Civil Air Patrol and other civic groups.
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