Colony Club of Ocean City Participates in Wreaths Across America Day

By DOUG OTTO For the fourth consecutive year, The Colony Club of Ocean City honored the service of area veterans by placing wreaths on graves at the Gerald M. Thornton Veterans Cemetery of Cape May County on Saturday, December 16. Each December, the Wreaths Across America organization asks local groups to remember and honor veterans by conducting wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as more than 4,225 nationwide and at overseas American cemeteries. “The Colony Club is pleased to again have the opportunity to join a grateful nation and thank our veterans and their families,” said Cathy Solarski, chair of her club’s Wreaths Across America Committee. She continued, “Our members partnered with the American Legion Post 524 Auxiliary to collect donations to sponsor 189 memorial wreaths. We were also supported with generous contributions from the Exchange Club of Ocean City and local business Innovative Structural Contractors.” Ceremonial wreaths are dedicated prior to being placed at the Cape May County Veterans Cemetery. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and singing God Bless America, participants fanned out across the 17.6-acre cemetery grounds to salute interred veterans and place wreaths on grave markers. The wreaths are handcrafted of balsam vines and hand-tied with red velvet bows at the Wreaths Across America headquarters in Columbia Falls, Maine, and then shipped to each ceremony location. The Colony Club of Ocean City, part of the General Federation and New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs, is a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to developing and supporting programs and projects that improve the community. More information about the Colony Club of Ocean City can be found at: https://colonyclubocnj.wordpress.com Ocean City American Legion Post 524 Auxiliary members also took part in the event.