Author: Jeremy Winn

Volunteer For Wreaths Across America Event

Dear Washingtonburg Chapter,

As the cool, fall air and colorful leaves arrive, we must prepare for our inaugural Wreaths Across America event. The goal of Wreaths Across America is to place holiday wreaths on all veterans’ graves across the country. We will do our part to honor America’s veterans by hosting a ceremony on Saturday December 14, 2024, at 10:00 am, at Middle Spring Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, one of the oldest in Shippensburg (135 Middle Spring Road, Shippensburg, PA).

There are 100 veterans, including over one dozen Revolutionary War soldiers, buried in the church’s cemetery. Our goal is to place wreaths on all 100 veterans’ graves, but we need to have that number of wreaths sponsored at our location. Currently, we have 44 wreaths sponsored with seven weeks remaining in our campaign. For every two wreaths sponsored at our location, we get a third wreath for free. They are only $17 each. So, we only need to sponsor 37 more wreaths. If you would like to sponsor wreaths, use the QR code below, or contact Ray Mowery (raymondmowery@hotmail.com).

We are also looking for volunteers to participate in our ceremony. We are looking to fill these roles:

  • A veteran from the navy to place a navy stick flag on a display at the front of the church.
  • A veteran from the air force to place an air force stick flag on a display at the front of the
    church.
  • A veteran from the coast guard to place a coast guard stick flag on a display at the front of
    the church.
  • A veteran from the space force to place a space force stick flag on a display at the front of
    the church.
  • A veteran to place a POW/MIA stick flag on a display at the front of the church.
  • A member to read the History of Wreaths Across America (the paper to read will be
    provided).
  • A member to introduce our first speaker, Representative Torren Ecker of the PA 193rd
    legislative district (the paper to read will be provided).
  • A member to introduce our second speaker, retired Colonel Park Beirbower (the paper to
    read will be provided).
  • Three members to serve in the Color Guard (in Colonial attire).

If you would like to participate in any of these roles, please notify Ray Mowery
(raymondmowery@hotmail.com). We hope for a big turnout from our members for this event.

Thank you,
Ray Mowery

Check-out the Wreaths Across America Page that I Support!

Washingtonburg Challenge Coins

Dear Washingtonburg Chapter,

I’m proud to be part of Washingtonburg Chapter because our chapter has completed many
fantastic projects this year, and we have many more planned for the coming months. Like many
organizations, we would like to remember the great work we do. Here is a token that can help you
do that.

We are creating our chapter’s first-ever challenge coin. We are working with an American
company from Texas, Lone Star Challenge Coins, to create our coin. The design is shown below.
The front has our newly created Washingtonburg logo; the back has the national SAR 250th
Anniversary logo. This design is beautiful and practical. Because it has the 250th anniversary logo,
it can be used for several years if we would like to give them as gifts to those who help with our
projects and events. Our challenge coin will be 1 ½ inches in diameter (for reference, a quarter is 1
inch in diameter).

We are accepting pre-orders for our challenge coin, selling them for $15/each, the same price as the SAR national challenge coins on the national web site.

We need 30 preordered coins to meet the minimum to order our first run. If you would like to purchase our first ever challenge coin, please respond to Ray Mowery (raymondmowery@hotmail.com) with the
total number of coins that you would like to purchase. Then, you can send payment to Steve Burd,
our treasurer at the address below. Please add “Challenge Coins” in the message line on your
check. As soon as we get 30 pre-ordered coins, we can place our order.

Thanks for supporting our chapter,
Ray Mowery

Steve Burd, Washingtonburg Treasurer
101 Tee Bird Lane
Newville, PA 17241