Wreaths Across America: Pleasant Forest, Masonic, Virtue cemeteries Dec. 16
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U.S. Air Force Col. Chris Sheffield prepares a wreath to be placed at Pleasant Forest. - Pleasant Forest photos by Tammy Cheek/Concord Masonic Cemetery photos courtesy of Mona Smith
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Marcus Kennedy, representing Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, placed a wreath at a veteran’s grave in Pleasant Forest Cemetery in Farragut starting at noon, Saturday, Dec. 16. - Pleasant Forest photos by Tammy Cheek/Concord Masonic Cemetery photos courtesy of Mona Smith
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Eve Thomas, left, and Betsy Houston represented the General William Lenoir Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution. They placed a wreath at the grave of Veteran Roger A. Isbell in Concord Masonic Cemetery at Chota Masonic Lodge 253 F&AM Saturday, Dec. 16. - Pleasant Forest photos by Tammy Cheek/Concord Masonic Cemetery photos courtesy of Mona Smith
Hundreds, including Town of Farragut elected officials and Boy Scout Troop 50 members, turned out to lay hundreds of wreaths on the graves of veterans in Farragut and Concord cemeteries as part of Wreaths Across America at noon, Saturday, Dec. 16.
“It was a great turnout by the community and a great way to honor the memories of our veterans,” Town administrator David Smoak said.
Volunteers placed wreaths on the graves of veterans in Pleasant Forest Cemetery, Virtue Church Cemetery and Concord Masonic Cemetery at Chota Masonic Lodge No. 253 F&AM.
At Pleasant Forest, about 100 watched as U.S. Air Force Col. Chris Sheffield, currently operating as Town of Farragut’s Veterans’ Local Government Management fellow, began the ceremony by the posting of Colors from University of Tennessee Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps Rocky Top Battalion.
“Today, we’re going to be placing wreaths for 214 veterans .... about 174 here at Pleasant Forest and another 40 at Virtue Church cemetery,” Sheffield said. “The veterans interred here at Farragut literally represent the entire military history of this county,” he said. “Right here, in this cemetery, we have veterans ranging from the Revolutionary War all the way through the war in Afghanistan.”
