Faith
Wreath-laying ceremony held at Rotary Lights
A nationwide observance honoring veterans at Christmastime has been conducted at La Crosse’s Rotary Lights display for the second year.
About two dozen people attended the “Wreaths Across America” ceremony on Saturday morning inside the “ice castle” at Riverside Park.
Wreaths Across America, always designated to be observed on a Saturday in December, was authorized by Congress a decade ago.
Hundreds of similar ceremonies were scheduled around the U.S., including the laying of 250,000 wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
At the Riverside Park ceremony, Joni Welda from the La Crosse DAR introduced people who presented wreaths one at a time to honor different groups of veterans, including a wreath to remember POW’s and service members missing in action.
Welda encouraged audience members to visit the gravesites of veterans, find the name of a vet, and do research about that person.