Wreaths laid to honor veterans at Cambria cemeteries

When more than 44,000 volunteers were placing remembrance wreaths on 245,000 headstones at noon Saturday, Dec. 17, at Arlington National Cemetery, other people were doing the same at cemeteries across the U.S. as part of the annual, time-coordinated “Wreaths Across America” ceremony to honor veterans.

Among participants at 9 a.m. in Cambria that day were members of American Legion Post No. 432 and other volunteers, who held similar ceremonies at two local cemeteries.

According to post member Ron Waltman, wreaths were placed on 106 graves at the Cambria Cemetery at the top end of Bridge Street, and nine memorials at the Old Santa Rosa Chapel Cemetery, alongside the hilltop chapel at 2353 Main St.

Among the sites were some that were specifically designated by donors to receive wreaths, such as those for Fausti and James Fiscalini, Pam Bodine, Art James, Frank Banner, Jay Foreman and Cecil Hawthorne. Greg Sanders placed a wreath at the monument for Spanish-American War veteran Ira Van Gordon.

Most other donors paid for wreaths ($15 each) to be placed on the grave of any veteran.

Mel McColloch led the service this year, with Alan Doctor (shown above) playing taps just before everyone picked up a wreath for distribution.

Waltman said next year’s team leader will be retired Army Col. Maureen Robles-Wilson of Cambria, and her goal is to place wreaths on every one of the more than 300 veteran monuments in the cemeteries.

The unsung heroes of the 2016 ceremony at the Cambria Cemetery, according to Waltman, were cemetery manager Tim Burres and his assistant Flame O’Malley. They researched the locations of specific graves, worked to beautify the area, came in very early on their day off to prepare, unboxed the wreaths and accompanied relatives to specific sites. National details: http://bit.ly/2ewIX4K.

This story was originally published December 21, 2016 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Wreaths laid to honor veterans at Cambria cemeteries."