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Horton Wreath Society honoring thousands of veterans through annual wreath laying

Posted at 6:41 AM, Dec 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-14 20:04:04-05

SUFFOLK, Va. - Hundreds of volunteers will take time over the weekend to decorate the graves of our nation's veterans with a holiday wreath.

The Horton Wreath Society has prepared thousands of wreaths that will drape the tombstones of veterans buried at the Albert G. Horton Memorial Veterans Cemetery at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The society and its volunteers do everything from fluffing the wreaths to loading them in the truck before placing them on every single veteran's tombstone. It’s a long process, but it's one that is done with detail and love.

“Last year we had Humvees here so it made for really cool pictures, but they took them out to make sure we had plenty of space this year because we knew we were going to have almost a thousand more,” said a volunteer for the Horton Wreath Society, which has prepared over 9,000 wreaths for the occasion. “It grows a thousand almost every year. At least we can still keep doing it; that’s all we care (about)."

There’s a lot of pride that goes into prepping the wreaths that will eventually lay on the tombstone of a veteran, with the Horton Wreath Society making sure that all 8,820 veterans are remembered over the holidays with a Christmas wreath.

“You get out here and do this and once it’s all out there it’s beautiful — it really is," said one volunteer. "The real Christmas spirit is out there then and I don’t know if I have ever seen anything so beautiful in my life.”

For more information on the Horton Wreath Society, click here.