The day of recognition ensures that those that made the ultimate sacrifice for the country will never be forgotten or have their sacrifices go unappreciated.

The wreaths will be placed at Lake View Cemetery and will focus on trying to cover as many graves within the soldiers circle as possible. This year volunteers are hoping to place about 1,200 wreaths. While there are around 4,000 soldiers within the cemetery, the circle holds roughly 1,200 of those soldiers, according to volunteer Anthony Galati. While distributing wreaths to every single grave is not a possibility, the effort ensures that none of the soldiers’ names are forgotten.

Galati noted that the process is a simple way for community members to show respect toward those who have risked their lives to serve. Galati said when a wreath is presented to a grave, the volunteer reads aloud the name before carefully placing the wreath down. The cemetery is also the resting place of three recipients of the Medal of Honor that fought in the Civil War. Even though these three are outside of Soldier’s Circle due to passing before the circle’s creation, volunteers make sure to place a wreath on each of the graves to remember the deep roots of achievement within the community, said Galati. The three Medal of Honor recipients in the cemetery are Henri Le Fevre Brown, Edgar Pierpont Putnam, and James Marvin Young.

Invites have already been extended to local governmental leaders from the area, according to Galati. These individuals include County Executive Paul Wendel, U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy, Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund, state Sen. George Borello, and state Assemblyman Andrew Molitor. Galati noted that three of these local leaders have already confirmed that they will be in attendance, with the rest still remaining possibilities.

The event will begin with brief speeches from Borello and Greg Carlson, county Veterans Service Agency director, said Galati. Following these speeches, the wreath placing will begin.

The Wreaths Across American organization began in 2007 with a simple mission; remember, honor, teach. The first year of the organization’s nationwide coordinated efforts in 2008, about 300 locations held ceremonies and placed over 100,000 wreaths. Since then, operations have grown to include nearly 4,909 locations, which have placed over three million wreaths in 2024.

“Every once in a while you come across a stone where you can see somebody passed at the age of maybe 19 or 20. They likely weren’t married. They likely didn’t have children. Their parents are likely gone,” said Carlson. “Those are the ones that are most moving to me, and those are the stones that I spend a little extra time on; when I see somebody who didn’t get to live out their life because they were killed in action.”

Carlson noted that the wreath laying has typically fostered good attendance, and usually prepares hundreds of wreaths for the event. While Carlson noted that many other events may struggle in attracting attendants, the wreath ceremony sees individuals that are kids, teenagers, adults, and senior citizens with incredibly different lives and backgrounds. The event brings community residents together under the common goal of honoring the people that have fought for the well-being of the United States.

Wreath can be donated through wreathsacrossamerica.org, using the location code NYLCJA to indicate the Lake View Cemetery and sponsorship ID NY0152 to indicate the Blue Star Mothers sponsorship. The event will take place on Saturday Dec. 13, at 12 p.m. Individuals wishing to volunteer are encouraged to show up at 11:30 a.m. to help with setup. Anyone has the ability to volunteer.