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.