It is time to buy wreaths for the Wreaths Across America ceremony being held at Sequim View Cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 9 am. The wreaths will be placed on more than 600 veterans’ graves after the patriotic ceremony.

This effort is sponsored by the Sequim Valley Funeral Chapel and the New Dungeness Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Please go to their website to place an order for a $17 wreath. The website is wreathsacrossamerica.org/WA0248. Click on “Sponsor Wreaths,” choose the number of wreaths you would like to donate and follow the prompts for the checkout process.

This is the sixth year of placing wreaths. There are now more than 5,050 locations across the world participating in this mission to “Remember Honor and Teach.” If you have questions please contact me or the chapter at newdungenessdar@gmail.com.

Thank you for honoring our veterans and showing their families that we will never forget.

Christmas for kids

Santa’s Castle is a nonprofit providing Christmas gifts to the children of active duty service members. For the past several years, Washington chapters of the Military Officers Association of America, including the local Olympic Peninsula Chapter, have collected sports balls — football, basketball, soccer, playground — so each child gets a sports ball.

To honor the “America 250!” campaign, the local chapter has a goal of 250 sports balls. You can ship them directly to my home at 538 N. Seventh Ave. in Sequim, drop them at my house, or bring them to a meeting. Please get deflated ones if possible.

Many thanks to the Marine Corps League which has started the campaign off with 52 sports balls! If you have questions, please email me or Google Santa’s Castle.

Mt. Olympus Detachment 897 of the Marine Corps League will once again be participating in the Toys For Tots program. Toys will be gathered and distributed to children in Clallam County. Please start watching for sales to buy toys for infants through teenagers. No clothing or food please. I will have more details in the November column.

Save the date

There will be a Veterans Day ceremony at the Coast Guard Base in Port Angeles the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 1. Please watch for time, speaker and program notes in the Gazette.

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Contributors: American Legion, Nancy Zimmermann, nmtzim@gmail.com; MOAA & Marine Corps League, Lorri Gilchrist, cdrlgilchrist@gmail.com; Voices For Veterans, Rita Frangione, rita.frangione@gmail.com; Korean War Veterans, Jerry Rettela, eletteor@msn.com; VFW 4760, Steve Henrikson, secretary@vfwpost4760.com ; VFW 6787, vfwcarlsborg@gmail.com, Fleet Reserve, Mike Sieg, mybadfish@gmail.com .