December 17, 2021 4:00 a.m.

Local volunteers will lay 1,000 wreaths at the Roseburg National Cemetery on Saturday.

The event is part of the national Wreaths Across America remembrance, designed to honor fallen veterans. It will begin with a brief ceremony next to the flagpole at 9:00 a.m.

Then volunteers will take the wreaths and place them on the graves of veterans. This will happen at both the original cemetery area on West Harvard and the cemetery annex on the Roseburg VA campus. About 6,500 veterans are buried at the National Cemetery.

While organizers hoped to acquire 1 wreath for each grave, that didn’t happen this year, with the pandemic creating delays. The effort did get a big boost from the local Sea Cadets group. They raised $5,300 in one month, according to Carol Hunt, one of those working on the event.

Anyone wanting to help place wreaths is welcome to come to the National Cemetery at 9:00 a.m. Call 541-233-9158 for more information.