Master gardeners lay wreaths on graves

By ELISE FRANCO

Vindicator staff writer

BOARDMAN

A tradition has begun at Zion Lutheran Cemetery.

On Monday, for the second year in a row, about 10 people placed wreaths on the graves of 28 veterans laid to rest inside the cemetery on Tippecanoe Road.

Hugh Earnhart of the Ohio State University Master Gardeners said the wreath-laying was something that grew from a ceremony he saw two years ago at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

Earnhart said the group will always lay wreaths at Zion Lutheran but hopes to continue to expand and cover more cemeteries in coming years.

“We’re going to broaden it next year,” he said. “We’ll select another cemetery where veterans may not be as recognized.”

Earnhart said the group will likely stick with smaller, lesser-known cemeteries.

“Some of the smaller cemeteries become neglected,” he said. “We want to help draw some attention to them and honor the veterans at the same time.”

John Brown III of Boardman is past national commander of the AMVETS organization. He said he is happy to see such a ceremony in the Mahoning Valley.

“I had the pleasure of being a part of the ceremony in Arlington,” he said. “I think all veterans should be recognized.”

But Vietnam veteran Bill Brown of Boardman said it’s important to remember veterans all over the country, especially during the holidays.

“These guys went through a lot,” he said. “I always read the stones when I go into the cemeteries my family members are in.”

Doris Puerner of Canfield, a member of the Master Gardeners, said she became involved in the wreath-laying because she did home health-care for veterans for 25 years.

“I saw the end result of what they went through,” she said, “A lot of these veterans have families who are gone, and the gravestones go unattended.”

efranco@vindy.com