American Legion Auxiliary to bring Wreaths Across America to Winston Memorial Cemetery

HALEYVILLE - A prestigious national program that honors the nation’s veterans is coming to Winston County.
Wreaths Across America, a non-profit organization whose goal is to remember the nation’s veterans and their sacrifices through honoring them visibly with wreaths - either given to living veterans or placed on the graves of veterans each December - is coming to Winston Memorial Cemetery in Haleyville, thanks to a partnership between Whitehead Unit 33 of the American Legion’s Auxiliary, based in Haleyville and Winston Memorial Cemetery.  The Auxiliary is taking orders now for wreaths, which will have decorative bows attached to them, with the goal of having the wreaths on the graves of the veterans buried at Winston Memorial during a ceremony on Wreaths Across America Day Saturday, Dec. 18.  The exact time for the ceremony in Haleyville will be announced at a later date.
Rebecca Linam, president of the Auxiliary, is very happy to undertake the task of making this happen.
“The American Legion Auxiliary was created in 1919.  Part of our mission  is to dedicate ourselves to serving our veterans, military and their families with this coordinated effort to honor our veterans living and dead.  We hope to give honor to our heroes - remembering them as always, never to forget their sacrifices and/or continued sacrifices in order for us to continue enjoying our freedom.  As Americans, we continue to remember and offer thanks,”  Linam said.
The 22” balsam wreaths with a bow are $15 apiece. They may be purchased by going online to  wreathsacrossamerica.org\AL0113P and choose to sponsor a wreath.  You may use any credit card or use PayPal to purchase the wreath(s).
Wreaths can also be purchased by sending a check to Rebecca Linam, 1705 35th St., Haleyville, Ala. 35565. Please make checks payable to “Wreaths Across America” and include the name of the veteran(s) you wish to remember or honor.  Also, please include a good contact phone number.
Please note no wreaths will be sold to individuals or groups that are not veteran affiliated.
Individuals who purchase a wreath for living veterans will need to stop by the American Legion Post, located off of Highway 13 North, on Friday, Dec 17, from 4-6 p.m. to pick it up.
The absolute deadline to place an order for a wreath is Friday, Nov. 26, at 5 p.m.
The American Legion Auxiliary is requesting that a family member for each veteran who has a wreath ordered attend the wreath laying ceremony and perform the honor of laying the wreath, if possible, during the ceremony.  However, it is not mandatory for a family member to be present in order to have a wreath placed on the grave.
The Legion is hoping to have volunteers - from individuals to church or civic organization groups - be able to come to help lay the wreaths on Dec. 18.  Any individual or organization interested can contact Linam at (205) 552-2868 or by email at linamrebecca@yahoo.com.
The American Legion plans to have enough wreaths available for each of the veterans at Winston Memorial, but there is a possibility that there will be wreaths available for persons who have loved ones who are veterans and buried in a cemetery other than Winston Memorial, Linam said.
“We may take wreath orders requested for other veterans buried in other cemeteries with the stipulation that persons who order them will need to bring in a signed form getting permission from the caretaker of the cemetery to place the wreath and be totally responsible for laying and removing of the wreath on or before Feb 1, 2022,”  Linam said.
Linam hopes to see this program expand across the county, with more organizations joining together to make sure that wreaths are placed on the graves of all veterans buried in Winston County.
“This most impressive program is hopefully going to bring honor,  glory and unity to veterans living and deceased and to families and friends filled with precious memories,”  Linam said.