Volunteers with the Pierce Brigade led the charge to lay wreaths at veterans’ graves Friday morning.
The chilly weather couldn’t stop the dozen or so people from laying more than a hundred wreaths at Concord’s Old North Cemetery.
“It gets very personal for me,” said Matthew Wieczhalek-Seiler, who brought Hometown Heroes to Concord and lost his own brother, who died two years ago while serving in the Army.
Volunteers showed respect in different ways. Ginny Friberg said she did her best to say every veteran’s name and thank them for their service before putting a wreath down.
“Sometimes I can’t read their names, so I apologize,” she said.
There are more than 4,000 veterans interred in Concord’s cemeteries, according to the city, and 174 of them are at the Old North Cemetery on North State Street.
Even if the inscriptions were worn, volunteers didn’t have a hard time knowing which graves needed a wreath – veterans’ were marked by an American flag.
The event was a precursor to the National Wreaths Across America Day, which takes place Saturday and is spearheaded by the national nonprofit.
Concord will have three events for the national remembrance – a presentation at Blossom Hill Cemetery, located at 207 N. State St. by the Civil Air Patrol, Concord Squadron at 9 a.m.
Later, there will be presentations in the Old Fort Cemetery, located on Shawmut Street, by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Buntin-Rumford-Webster Chapter and the Pierce Brigade, again at Old North Cemetery, both at 10 a.m.
There was also to be a wreath-laying Saturday at the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
