Annual ceremony honors those who served.
The Wreaths across America ceremony began at 10 a.m. at Courier Field next to the park’s veterans monument. This local edition of the national ceremony, powered by Generations Renewed, brought out 200 people.
“I am super excited about this,” Kimberly Kitchen said. “My dad, Alfonso Murray, was in the Army. This started in 2022 because I wanted to know how I could honor my dad and get a wreath for my dad. Then I found out we could do it as a community thing, to honor not only my dad, but all of the veterans. So, that is why I picked it up.”
Kitchen, as the local coordinator for Wreaths Across America, gave opening remarks. Senior Pastor Sidney Simpson from Breath AGAIN ministries gave the invocation. Students from the Plant City High School Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) marched to the front to present the American Flag, and Hope Storter sang the National Anthem. Mistress of Ceremony Jeannie Elliott presented Vice Mayor Jason Jones, who addressed the assembly. Elliott then spoke the Wreaths Across America proclamation, which read, in part, “We are all proud to be Americans that live in a free society made up of many people, from many walks of life. The freedoms we enjoy today have not come without a price. Lying here before us and in cemeteries throughout this nation are men and women who gave their lives so that we can live in freedom and without fear….Our Nation stands as a shining beacon of liberty and freedom to the world. We thank those who gave their lives to keep us free, and we shall not forget you.”
Following this reading, a local veteran, accompanied by a JROTC student, carried a wreath for each armed forces branch from the podium to place at the park’s veterans monument. Next, Vietnam veterans who live in Plant City were honored, including Jerry W. Carbaugh, Lloyd F. Bushee, Mary E. Ward, Freddie Washington, Gerald Abdul Wasi, James Dale Stokes, and Mickey Taylor. Afterwards, members of American Heritage Girls Troop 14 ceremonially set a table for POWs, with a narrator describing the symbolism of the elements, among them, “….The table is round, showing our everlasting concern we have for POWs and MIAs; the cloth is white, symbolizing the purity of their intentions when they answered the country’s call; the single rose signifies the blood they have shed for our country….” After this, scouts from Troop 744 described how wreaths would be laid. To close the ceremony, Russ McCollum played taps.
After the gathering, American Heritage girls, Scouts, and other kids and adults traveled to cemeteries in Plant City and Bealsville, and laid wreaths on previously marked graves of veterans. For each veteran, they performed a ceremony:
• First, they stood in front of the grave and saluted the veteran or held hand over heart.
• Second, they read from the headstone the name, rank, war or area of combat, date of birth, and date of death.
• Third, they placed the wreath in front of the headstone.
• Finally, they stepped back, saluted the veteran, and thanked the person for their service.
Kitchen will be the catalyst behind next year’s wreath laying. “I want more of the city residents to come out, especially the African-American community,” she said. “This is a city-wide thing. I want the entire city to come and participate. My goal is to make sure every cemetery in Plant City takes part.”
For volunteers for next year, and for cemeteries that would like veterans to be honored, contact Kitchen at 813.562.4495 or rebeccakitchen37@gmail.com.
