Sharp Hill Cemetery has been announced as an official location for the 2016 National Wreaths Across America Day, which is Saturday, Dec. 17. The community is invited to a ceremony that will take place.
At 1 p.m., members of the Captain Stephen Betts Society, Wilton’s chapter of the Children of the American Revolution, will lay wreaths on the headstones of the 18 Revolutionary War and nine French and Indian War soldiers buried there.
In keeping with this year’s theme of Wreaths Across America — Say Their Names — they will then will say the names of the local heroes laid to rest there, to ensure that the individuals who served to protect the freedoms of our nascent country are not, and never will be, forgotten.
“A person dies twice: the first time, when they stop breathing, and a second time, when someone says their name for the last time,” WAA Executive Director Karen Worcester explained.
Sharp Hill Cemetery is at the corner of Route 7 and Sharp Hill Road. Established in 1738, it is owned and maintained by Wilton Congregational Church. This is the first year the cemetery is participating in Wreaths Across America Day. Information: email Pamela Brown at pam@wiltoncongregational.org or visit hillsidecemeterywilton.com. Wreaths Across America’s mission — remember, honor, teach — is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies each December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. Information: WreathsAcrossAmerica.org.
Children of the American Revolution is the nation's oldest, largest, patriotic youth organization and offers membership to anyone under the age of 22, descended from someone who rendered material aid to the cause of American Independence as a soldier, sailor, civil officer, or recognized patriot in one of the several colonies or states, or of the United States. Information: email Lisa Pojano at pojano@yahoo.com or visit nscar.org.