Worcester Wreath Company & Wreaths Across America
Wreaths Across America – The Maine Journey Begins!
Starting in December 2023, What About Maine? is undertaking a new multi-month feature. We will be sharing the mission of an outstanding non-profit organization located in our home state of Maine. In January 2024, What About Maine? will begin telling stories about this truly blessed operation, Wreaths Across America, who is on a self-described mission to use handmade wreaths to “Remember - Honor - Teach!”
Wreaths Across America wants to teach all of us about the service and sacrifice our veterans have made from the Revolutionary war to today. Our veterans and active-duty members do so much to keep us safe and Wreaths Across America want to remind us that “FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!”
There are U.S. veterans laid to rest in all 50 states, as well as Puerto-Rico and Guam. Each year headstones across these cemeteries are adorned with handmade, fresh balsam, wreaths and red bows. On December 16, 2023 millions of volunteers, current and retired military, and the families of fallen service members, plan to pay tribute by participating in this “National Wreaths Across America Day.” Wreaths will be laid on headstones across the world while each service member’s name is read aloud, paying tribute to each life. The selfless sacrifice of each veteran is recognized and acknowledged year after year.
The weekend of December 9th and 10th is an exciting weekend for Columbia Falls, Maine! It is the weekend everyone gathers, bringing together Gold Star families, veterans and their families, friends, truckers, Wreaths Across America staff, and volunteers. Everyone is preparing for the annual trek to Arlington National Cemetery. This annual gathering serves as a chance to ground everyone before setting out on a great mission.
The mission of Wreaths Across America is to Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom. It is a national nonprofit that was established in 2007. It was grown from a family tradition which began in 1992 when the first 5,000 wreaths were laid in the oldest section of Arlington National Cemetery, a section which at that time didn’t see many visitors. Volunteers couldn’t help but say the name of each soldier while laying a wreath on their grave. The vocalization of each service member’s name hit home and is a tradition carried through to today in an attempt to make sure no serviceman is forgotten. In 2023 sponsored veterans’ wreaths will be placed by volunteers in more than 4,100 participating locations nationwide.
What About Maine? is honored to be able to join the gathering in Columbia Falls this year. Our team will work together to write stories of a wide variety of Mainers and guests. We will experience the kick-off event and possibly ride in the first leg of the convoy. We will also be taking video to use on our social media platforms. Members of our team will have an opportunity to lay wreaths in a Maine Veterans Cemetery on December 16th, a moment to truly experience and honor Maine Veterans who have sacrificed all to keep us free! Our January 2024 issue will be dedicated to Wreaths Across America and “The Maine Journey!” We would personally like to thank the Wreaths Across America Staff and Volunteers who made our November visit possible.
We recently got to meet founders, Morrill and Karen Worcester, and their daughter-in-law Renee Worcester, who also serves as a volunteer for the nonprofit. We spent the day learning and experiencing their mission. We received a personal tour of the museum and restored guest house where each room is designed to showcase a different wartime era as if the soldier just walked out the door to begin his military service. The whole day was a truly a moving experience.
Karen Worcester, who has been the volunteer Executive Director for the nonprofit since its founding, took time out of her busy schedule to give us a personal interview and guided tour along with a longtime volunteer, driver, and personal assistant Dave. He and Karen conducted a grand tour of the thousands of stunning acres of Balsam trees and individual monuments located on the “tip lands” where balsam is harvested to make veterans’ wreaths. Across the ridge line, a picturesque silhouette of an old-fashioned Maine chapel dotted the sunset. The chapel was designed and built by the Worcester family to provide a peaceful place where visitors and locals can rest and reflect on the beauty of this land and the lives loved and lost. The chapel hosts weddings and funerals and military remembrances with Saturday services.
Veterans are honored in many ways by the Worcester family, the most jaw dropping of all is the placement of replica Dog Tags on a balsam tree bow. Each Dog Tag is kept track of, and families are notified every three years when tips from their loved ones tree will be harvested. It would be hard to ignore the love, detail, and intention behind everything that the Worcester family does. You truly feel a part of each serviceman is present, respected, and honored in so many different ways.
Please join us in the coming months to hear more amazing stories from a little town in Downeast Maine that will give you goosebumps, fill you with American patriotism, and give you a sense of gratitude for those who served and the families who sacrificed so much to keep America free.
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Worcester Wreath Company – Honoring Our Veterans
Worcester Wreath Company is a true Maine treasure with its roots firmly planted in Downeast Maine, dedicated to bringing you the joy of the holiday season. We traveled to Columbia Falls, over a two-hour drive from Waterville, Maine, to learn their story and witness the phenomenal tree to wreath process.
Morrill Worcester, the company’s founder, is a true Mainer! A gentle soul whose love for Christmas and strong work ethic gave him an idea to create locally grown, fresh balsam tip wreaths. As a young man he handmade his wreaths and sold them at a roadside stand. Mainer’s and visitors alike enjoyed the fresh balsam fragrance and full green tips that complement one another, making each wreath a work of art! The Worcester Wreath Company grew their business by directly shipping their wreaths to customers through catalog sales companies.
In 1992 at the end of their wreath making season, they had 5,000 wreaths left over. Morrill did not want to discard them and instead decided to donate them to the fallen veterans at Arlington National Veterans Cemetery. Morrill’s wife, Karen, put her people skills to work and contacted folks at Arlington National Veterans Cemetery. The answer was an astounding “YES!” and thus “The Worcester Wreaths” convoy to Arlington was born! They loaded the wreaths up and convinced family and friends to join them on the trek to Arlington. Upon arrival, they were escorted to the oldest section of the cemetery. They were told it was a section that didn’t receive many visitors.
There is a saying that “Everyone dies twice! Once when you physically pass away and a second when no one’s left to say your name.” That’s how the section was chosen. When the wreaths were laid, each serviceman’s name was spoken aloud, a mission that continues to this day. Since then, the mission has grown every year, information we will share through the story of “Wreaths Across America.”
Worcester Wreath Company could easily be confused for a seasonal business, however it is year-round. Morrill worked with paper companies to purchase land that had been recently harvested, leaving behind only fir trees. Worcester’s foresters manage the thousands of acres to assure their balsam fir trees are healthy, disease free, and sustainably harvested. A science for maintaining and harvesting balsam tips was created and continues to be practiced.
Another way Worcester Wreath Company serves their community is by keeping their employees all year round despite being a seasonal business. In the off season, wreath makers handmake all the bows that adorn their wreaths. This year, they made over 2 million bows! Several sites accommodate the 24/7 wreath-making work force and the hundreds of truckers who deliver wreaths across the country and beyond.
Christmas joy and American pride come together in this beautiful Downeast town of Columbia Falls. The unexpected and unintended impact of the Worcester Wreath Factory continues to grow like the balsam firs that endlessly provide a symbol of appreciation year after year.
For more information, visit www.worcesterwreath.com.








