A program that honors deceased veterans by placing wreaths at their grave sites will be held for the first time ever in eastern Schuylkill County.

Wreaths Across America will feature a brief outdoor service at noon Dec. 19 at Sky-View Memorial Park in Tamaqua. The event will be held rain or shine.

On that day, Sky View and locations across the globe will see area volunteers launch across the cemetery placing wreaths on veteran’s graves.

This is the first year that the cemetery will participate in the event thanks to the efforts of two Tamaqua area couples, Eric and Christine Zizelmann, along with Paul and Liz Corinchock.

While the four have for years independently volunteered in different facets of Tamaqua’s Memorial Day and Veterans Day observations, the idea to bring Wreaths Across America to Tamaqua came after a chance meeting the couples had in 2017.

Both couples attended the Wreaths Across America event at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.

“We both attended the WAA event at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery,” said Eric Zizelmann. “Paul and I ran into each other at the opening ceremony, not realizing that the other would be there. In retrospect, that day planted the seed, and we separately started thinking about doing something like it back home.”

It wasn’t until this past May, however, that Corinchock called Zizelmann to suggest that they partner to bring WAA to Sky View Memorial Park.

“I wanted to do this for the veterans, because of what they did and continue to do for us. I know the day will probably be cold and maybe even wet, but I guarantee that it will warm us up on the inside.”

When the couples met with Bob Miller of Sky View’s board of directors to pitch the idea, it was met with marked enthusiasm.

“We’re very excited,” Miller said. “It’s a civic obligation to honor these people, and WAA is a worthy tradition. The laying of a wreath symbolizes the love of our American values and the respect for those who answered their last bugle call.”

Wreaths Across America started as a simple gesture of thanks that has grown into an international movement of dedicated volunteers and communities.

In 1992, Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine found themselves with a surplus of wreaths nearing the end of the holiday season. Remembering a boyhood experience at Arlington National Cemetery, owner Morrill Worcester made arrangements for the wreaths to be shipped to Virginia and placed on the graves in the cemetery.

The annual tribute went on quietly for several years until 2005 when a photo of the stones at Arlington, adorned with wreaths and covered in snow, circulated around the internet. The project suddenly received national attention and thousands of volunteers poured in from all over the country to help lay wreaths.

The organization’s goal of covering Arlington National Cemetery was met in 2014 with the placement of 226,525 wreaths. In the meantime, however, the event had grown nationwide to include thousands of other national and private cemeteries and millions of volunteers. In 2018, the Corinchocks were among those who took it a step further and traveled overseas to participate in the event held for the first time at the Normandy American Cemetery in France.

“It was a breathtaking experience,” said Liz Corinchock. “Almost all of the 9,385 men and women buried there are war dead. Paul’s great uncle is among them and we got to meet WAA founder Morrill Worchester, so it was a very emotional day.”

The goal for the Tamaqua location is much more modest. The team is hoping to raise enough funds to place wreaths on the graves of the 3,464 local heroes.

“(This past Thursday) is the beginning of the 100 day countdown, so now it’s just a question of how many wreaths we can get people to sponsor,” said Paul Corinchock. “I’m hopeful. The one attribute I admire about the Worchester and Zizelmann families and especially our coal region family is their generosity.”

“This year is the perfect time to start this tradition for our town,” said Christine Zizelmann. “We’re all struggling so much with a fractured nation and disrupted lives from the pandemic. My wish would be for this gesture of holiday peace to remind us that we’re Americans first.”

Those interested in volunteering to lay wreaths or sponsoring a wreath at Sky View are invited to contact the Corinchock/Zizelmann team, “We 4 WAA,” at 570-668-5789.

Wreaths can also be sponsored through wreathsacrossamerica.org/PA0524 at $15 each or at $30 for three wreaths.

National Wreaths Across America Day is a free, nonpolitical, community event.