Veterans at the Library met for their weekly coffee and breakfast meeting on Friday morning, December 2. Chair, John Tapley, asked members if they would help him replace the 13 U.S. Flags at Patriot Park in preparation of the Wreaths Across America event that will be held on Saturday, December 17. At 9:15, the entire crowd jumped up and made their way to Patriots Park. The next morning, Saturday December 3rd, they met at the Swainsboro City Cemetery shelter at 7:15 to prepare for the 65 to 70 volunteers that showed up to place a small U.S. Flag on each veteran’s grave in the Swainsboro City Cemetery, Early Settlers Cemetery, Old Baptist Church Cemetery, East Brook Cemetery, and the Forest Lawn Cemetery. Each Section of the cemeteries had a packet with the complete cemetery sections with that section marked with the veteran's names listed. Two or more volunteers took a section with the flags to mark their graves. On Saturday, December 17, volunteers will have wreaths placed at each section and they will take the wreaths to where each flag is located. At the Swainsboro City Cemetery there are nearly 600 veterans buried and when all the other four cemeteries are added and the special wreaths ordered by family members around the county, the total being received for the WAA will then be 1,310 wreaths.
