The Kiwanis Club of Swainsboro held its weekly meeting, Tuesday night, May 16, 2023, at the Rustic Grille at 7:00 p.m. With President Tammy Allen presiding, there were 19 in attendance including 2 guests, Jeff Palmer, and Gary Mason. The strawberry elegance cake, provided by Tim Goodman, was won by Gary Howard. The Domino’s pizza donated by Domino's Pizza was won by Gary Couse. The program for the evening was hosted by Dess Smith, who enlisted the aid of Jane Durden to introduce Gary Mason. Mason gave an update on the Wreaths across America (WWA) 2023 program. This year's theme for the WAA is "To Serve and Succeed". In 1992, Merrail Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company, placed the first wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery with the assistance of volunteers and a trucking company. This process went on for the next 13 years until the picture of the snowy gravestones went viral in 2005. At that time WWA exploded across the country. The program was founded in 2007 to place wreaths on the graves of military veterans. The first placement of wreaths was in 2005 at Arlington National Cemetery. This past year wreaths were placed in all 50 states at 3,702 locations. Over 2.7 million wreaths were placed at those locations and 270,000 wreaths alone at Arlington National Cemetery. Last December 17th, 1,600 wreaths were placed on veteran’s graves in Emanuel Counties cemetery's by over 100 volunteers. This year the plan is to place 2,000 wreaths on veterans’ graves on December 16, for the Wreaths Across America Day. There will be a ceremony at the Swainsboro City Cemetery on December 16, starting at 10:00 a.m. and immediately afterward the wreaths will be placed on every veteran's grave at the cemetery. Contact Scotty Nasworthy or Jane Durden (478-494-4113) if you’re interested in donating or helping. The motto of Wreaths Across America is “Remember-Honor-Teach.” The member spotlight for tonight is Dianna Wedincamp. Wedincamp was born in Marietta. She enjoys traveling and has been to Ecuador as well as the Keys to visit her son. She has been married 35 years to Jimmy Wedincamp of Canoochee Catfish fame. They have two sons, Michael, and Jake, and one granddaughter, 18-month-old Amelia. Dianna likes the outdoors and enjoys gardening, bird watching, and photography. A graduate of DEA, her favorite TV shows are American Idol, The Voice, and True Crimes. Her favorite candy bar is the Kit Kat. President Tammy thanked those who helped with the Knotty Pine 5K at the Pine Tree Festival. We had 48 runners, back up to our pre-Covid average. President Tammy was especially impressed by the turn out of younger runners. If you would like to become a member of our Club, please contact our membership chair Jane Durden at 478-494-4113 or e-mail her at hsdurden@bellsouth.net. Also, if you would like more information about the many community service projects that we do each year, go to our website: http://www.swainsborokiwanis.org or to our Swainsboro Kiwanis Facebook Page.
