Donate a Wreath, Honor Veterans for Wreaths Across America

The Silverado Casino hosted its 25th annual Silverado Classic Car Show this weekend, a long-standing Fernley tradition.  

Proceeds benefit the Nevada Veterans Coalition and this time of year. A lot of that money helps buy wreaths for the Wreaths Across America Project.  The Coalition has been involved with the project since 2007.

"This is an organization that is nationwide and international," said Nancy Rifkin, Outreach Coordinator with the Nevada Veterans Coalition. "Where veteran memorial cemeteries try to raise the money to place a wreath on every gravestone and we all do it at the same time on the same day."

The first year, the group raised enough money to buy 40 wreaths for the cause. A few years ago, they got enough donations to place a wreath on every single grave at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley - more than 8,000 of them - and it's been that way ever since.  

"One of the things we always try to do is to say their name out loud," Rifkin said. "Clear off the headstone, read their name out loud and place the wreath."

Everyone is welcome at the cemetery that day to honor and remember those who served. Family members can lay wreaths on the headstones of loved ones.

"On that day we see families coming out with their children, Boy Scouts, and that's something that we're really excited to see every year, is educating the children about honoring veterans," Rifkin said.