Wreaths Across America Initiative Aims to Place Wreaths on Veterans' Graves at Alton National Cemetery

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ALTON - Riverbend residents can once again participate in the Wreaths Across America initiative in Alton.

At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, community members will gather at Alton National Cemetery to lay wreaths on the graves of veterans. Margaret Hopkins, who oversees the local Wreaths Across America program, explained that the community can come out to the ceremony and contribute or volunteer to keep the program going.

“We’re very excited about everything going on this year,” Hopkins said. “We’re there to do the remembering, honoring and teaching.”

On Dec. 13, the ceremony will begin with the invocation and posting of colors. The Ignite Choral Group from Godfrey will perform the National Anthem. The presentation of the ceremonial wreaths will follow, honoring all branches of service.

Students from East Elementary will then present the wreaths to veterans, who will place them on the graves. The ceremony will end with a rifle salute, TAPS, a dove release, a benediction and the retiring of colors. The entire morning takes around 30 minutes, Hopkins said.

“It is a great holiday tradition,” she added. “If you come once, you’re going to be addicted to it.”

While the morning itself is brief, preparation for Wreaths Across America takes “hundreds” of volunteers. The wreaths are escorted into Alton by the Illinois Patriot Guard, and then over 20 people come together to unload the wreaths. Civic youth groups carry the wreaths to the cemetery and set them up by the gravestones so the ceremony can kick off at 11 a.m.

If you’re unable to volunteer, Hopkins emphasized that you can still be involved in the ceremony by purchasing a wreath. It costs $17 to purchase one wreath, and they need 560 wreaths for the Alton National Cemetery. You can mail checks to P.O. Box 3081 in Alton, IL.

They order approximately 125 additional wreaths for community members to lay on the graves of veterans at other cemeteries. If you would like to reserve a wreath, you can call Sue Fitzgerald at 618-531-1430.

Last year’s initiative was so successful that the Alton chapter of Wreaths Across America also donated 1,000 wreaths to a cemetery in Oklahoma. Hopkins noted that they aim to support other groups as much as possible. They all have the same goal: to honor veterans.

“Every year, we try to help somebody else that maybe doesn’t have the support that we have here,” she said. “We really appreciate everybody’s help."

She added that while everyone on Alton’s Wreaths Across America committee loves this work, they are also looking to welcome new people to the group. She encourages people to reach out about joining the committee or volunteering.

“This year’s theme for Wreaths Across America is to keep moving forward. Our committee needs to do that, too, because we’re thinking about the future of this event,” she said. “There are some of us on the committee that are young at heart, but we need to start thinking about the next generation of who’s going to be taking this over for this to continue. So I would like to challenge anybody who would really like to step up and take a key position on the committee — we would be grateful.”

For more information about Wreaths Across America, including how to support them, visit their official Facebook page or their official webpage.

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