FARMINGTON — Members of the Sandy River Young Marines, the Roderick-Crosby American Legion Post 28 and local dignitaries participated in a solemn wreath ceremony to honor veterans on Saturday morning in Meetinghouse Park.

It was 25 degrees as the ceremony began, according to the TD Bank sign at the corner of Broadway and Main, just down the street.

A brisk, flesh-freezing wind fluttered the park’s American flag. It hung beside the World War II monument at half-staff in respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence committed on Friday morning in Newtown, Conn.

Assembling at the park Color guards from the Young Marines of Franklin County and Post 28, along with other Young Marines and their leader, Gordon Webber of Vienna, joined Post 28 1st Vice Commander David Targett, other Post 28 members, Paul Mills of the Farmington Historical Society, and Sen. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, at the park steps.

Targett then asked for a moment of silence to recognize service members that served America or are serving now, prisoners of war and those missing in action.

“Today we gather together to honor veterans during the holiday week as part of the annual Wreaths Across America Day,” Targett said.

He then shared a brief background of the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, which supplied 750 wreaths to be placed in ceremonies much like Post 28’s, simultaneously at noon Saturday across the nation and at 24 national cemeteries on foreign soil.

Morrill Worcester’s Worcester Wreath Co. also donated seven wreaths to Post 28, five of which were placed prior to the ceremony at Farmington’s Riverside and Meetinghouse cemeteries, Post 28, the World War I Memorial Arch, and the Civil War monument.

Sen. Saviello then continued the program, saying, “We are gathered here today at this memorial site and memorial sites all across America to remember that we are one nation with one flag.”

He expounded on the freedoms provided by service members who gave their lives and must be remembered.

“America has always been the first nation to stand up for the freedom of people around the world,” Saviello said. “Many of you here today have answered that call and served your country well. We are here today to say, ‘Thank you,’ and we are honored to know you.”

He also recognized service members and their families, honoring them for their daily sacrifices “to keep our country safe from terrorism, hatred and injustices that plague the world community.”

Saviello briefly explained the symbolism of evergreen wreaths, saying they represent strength and the circle of eternal life.

Mills then shared the histories of Farmington’s veterans’ monuments at which the wreaths were placed.

Glancing at the flag at half-staff, he also reflected on the Newtown tragedy.

“One has to wonder, to ask questions about the mystery of it, the why and how unfathomable it is, and how difficult it is to understand,” Mills said.

“We have to think that what is so difficult to understand, so uncertain in a community somewhat like our own…despite the uncertainty, we have to have faith.

“We have to understand that somehow in God’s eternity, there is some perfection and some of that is posed in the tribute we are giving veterans today,” Mills said.

Then, Steve Bunker, a retired lieutenant commander of the U.S. Coast Guard, and Cpl. Jodi Meldrum of the Young Marines, each carried a wreath to place at the two remaining monuments. Bunker placed his at the 2006 monument to veterans of the wars that have occurred since WWII. Meldrum placed hers at the WWII memorial.

The ceremony ended with taps performed from a distance.

Afterward, Targett said the ceremony was the first time Post 28 has done it using wreaths.

“It’s a way of remembering and honoring,” he said.

“It’s just another symbol to show the troops that are fighting now that we care, unlike years ago.”

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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