Butler County residents show up as wreath-laying ceremonies take place across U.S.
Dave McFarland described the military as “everybody giving a little bit” toward a greater purpose.
He and dozens of others each gave a little bit themselves on Saturday, Dec. 13, by laying wreaths at the graves of service members at North Side Cemetery in Butler, where the local chapter of Wreaths Across America had its seventh annual ceremony.
McFarland attended the ceremony with his wife, Mary McFarland, for their fifth year of attendance. The couple agreed it is important to brave the winter weather to honor people who gave their time to military service.
“When they started doing it here, we wanted to participate,” Mary McFarland said. “You really have to think about the people who fight for our freedom and keep doing it every day.”
Wreaths Across America is a nonprofit organization founded to expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, which Maine businessman Morrill Worcester started in 1992. The ceremony at the Butler cemetery Saturday was just one of nearly 5,000 ceremonies taking place in cemeteries across the country on the same day. Each year, similar ceremonies take place in other cemeteries within Butler County, like Saxonburg, which had a wreath-laying at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Chuck Veazey, location coordinator for the Butler chapter of Wreaths Across America, said there are at least 1,000 military veterans buried in North Side Cemetery and the umbrella organization provides wreaths for all of them. The Butler chapter just has to organize the ceremony and get people there to help lay the wreaths throughout the cemetery.
“We'll lay a wreath for each branch of service, and we'll ask folks to disperse into the cemetery and lay wreaths at all the veteran graves,” Veazey said. “We get a few hundred folks every year.”
The ceremony began promptly at noon, as the wind pushed snow around the ground covering the hillside near the cemetery’s mausoleum. In addition to the dozens of people who lined the driveway around the mausoleum in winter coats, scarves and hats, members of the Bantam Marine Corps League stood in the center, and a few dozen members of Butler Senior High School’s JROTC stood at attention to the side.
Donna Croft, the other location coordinator for the Butler chapter of Wreaths Across America, said no matter what weather the day of the ceremony brings with it, many people turn out to help honor veterans buried in the cemetery. It always takes place the second Saturday of December and Croft said the Butler chapter has its regulars and it keeps attracting people who become regulars.
“Almost everyone who comes say they want to do it again next year,” Croft said.
Veazey said attendance at the Butler ceremony may have shrunk compared to previous years, but he chalks it up to other cemeteries and people in the area starting their own chapters of Wreaths Across America. Because they all take place at the same time and date, people can choose whichever one they want to attend.
Butler’s ceremony had two newcomers in Tracey Fisher and her nephew, David Fisher, who had been to many Wreaths Across America events before, but not the one at the North Side Cemetery. Tracey Fisher said she started bringing her nephew to Wreaths Across America when he was a young child and now David Fisher is the one who urges her to take him each year.
They each said the ceremony was a good way to pay tribute to military personnel who died in service or died after serving.
“It’s the right thing to do is honor the folks,” Tracey Fisher said. “We’ve participated in West Sunbury, Zelienople.”
The ceremony Saturday included the laying of wreaths for the branches of military and the service members remembered as prisoners of war or missing in action followed by a 21-gun salute and a performance of “Taps” and “Amazing Grace.”
After the ceremony, Veazey released the crowd to gather wreaths and place them at graves marked by American flags, which symbolized veterans. He asked everyone to say the name on the gravestone as they placed a wreath as an additional way of remembering that person’s service.
As Veazey explained, the turnout is humbling each year.
“We’re constantly humbled by the support that the community gives us by coming out and showing up,” Veazey said.
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Trey Merwick does a bike trick as he visits a friend before the Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Ceremonial colors were presented during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Bagpiper Matthew Kears salutes during the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Ceremonial colors were presented during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Jim McMullen salutes during the Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Norman Carpenter salutes during the Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Jim McMullen presents a wreath in memory of those served and serving in the United States Marine Corps during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Jim McMullen presents a wreath in memory of those served and serving in the United States Marine Corps during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Norman Carpenter presents a wreath in memory of those who serve in the United States Navy during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Norman Carpenter salutes in memory of those who serve in the United States Navy during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Brandon Sampson salutes in memory of those serving in the United States Air Force during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Ryan Jackson salutes in memory of those serving in the United States Merchant Marines during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Tim Ellenberger presents a wreath in honor of all the United States servicemen that are prisoners of war or missing in action during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Tim Ellenberger salutes in honor of all the United States servicemen that are prisoners of war or missing in action during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Tim Ellenberger, left, Ryan Jackson, Gene Wise, Brandon Sampson, Norman Carpenter, Jim. McMulle, and April Miller all give one final salute to honor various military branches during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Bagpiper Matthew Kears plays “Taps” during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Thomas Hirz gives multiple wreaths to Leslie Osche to place at graves during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Peg Veazey places a wreath at a military grave during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Peg Veazey places a wreath at a military grave during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Peg Veazey places a wreath at a military grave during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member Anna Baird looks to place wreaths on graves during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member Thomas Hirz places a wreath on a grave during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member Anna Baird places a wreath on a grave during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member Thomas Hirz places a wreath on a grave during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member Logan Geibel salutes a grave after placing a wreath during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Wreaths are places with flags during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member Zane Schiebel carries a large box of wreaths to be handed out during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member Madison Iman, left, hands wreaths to Shawna Littlejohn to place during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Serenity Mathers, left and Nicole Beaver look for sites to place wreaths during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
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Wreaths are places with flags during a Wreaths Across America ceremony and placing at North Side Cemetery in Butler on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler
