By Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — The race to prepare Maple Grove Cemetery for next month’s Wreaths Across America Day begins as soon as the first leaf touches the ground each fall.
By mid-November, leaves blanket the ground. Volunteers maintain the cemetery, which is so massive, cutting the grass alone can take up to 50 hours a week. With the volume of work and lack of hands to do it, making the cemetery presentable in time for the Wreaths Across America Day can be a source of stress for Marcella Yaremchuk, who oversees both the cemetery and the ceremony, which will be held nationwide Saturday, Dec. 13 this year.
On Saturday, a group of veterans stepped up to help.
“We knew this cemetery was in bad shape,” Sean Matthews, public relations officer for the Combat Vets Association Chapter 27, said. “These are our brothers and sisters here, and they deserve respect, even though they’re not with us.”
Maple Grove has a large number of veterans interred at the cemetery, stretching back all the way to the Revolutionary War. The cemetery has service members from every era of the nation’s wars. On Dec. 13, volunteers will place wreaths on 345 gravesites across the cemetery’s 14 acres. The purpose of the ceremony is to honor and remember those who served in the nation’s military.
Photo by Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian