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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – Two wreath laying ceremonies will be held on Saturday, Dec. 17 in Montevallo to honor veterans.

One ceremony will be held at the Montevallo city cemetery at noon.

The program will begin at noon and Clay Norton, group leader for the Montevallo Historical Society, will be the MC for the event.

“All across the country cemeteries participate in this wreath laying on the same day,” said Donoho Marilyn, Colocation coordinator for Wreaths Across America. “It’s to honor the veterans, remember the veterans and teach our children about what the veterans have done for us.”

“The cemetery in town is old and has been around for a long time,” Marilyn said. “(We) realized there would be a lot of veterans out there (that were buried) before the national cemetery was even built.”

At the event veterans will place one wreath for each of the branches of service at the flagpole, and volunteers go throughout the cemetery and place wreaths on all the veteran’s graves that have been identified.

The oldest veteran grave they’ve identified is one from World War I, she said.

“Montevallo Historical Society has been our sponsor and has helped us get the word out and do a lot of the leg work,” Marilyn said.

A separate wreath laying ceremony will be held at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo at 11 a.m.

Those who wish to volunteer for a wreath laying ceremony can register online or show up and volunteer.

More information about the event and the wreath laying ceremony held around the country can be found at Wreathsacrossamerica.org.