Green wreaths with red bows were placed at more than 1,300 headstones in the Colusa, Williams, Colusa Catholic, and Cachil Dehe Wintun cemeteries on Saturday to honor those who served their country but are no longer here to share in the spirit of the holiday season.
Saturday’s ceremony was held on a clear but cold morning at the Colusa Cemetery, in conjunction with the annual Wreaths Across America programs held at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and cemeteries across the nation.
“This year, across the country at more than 3,400 participating locations like this one, there are millions of Americans gathering safely as one nation to remember, honor and teach,” said Dawn Nisson, of the Williams Cemetery District. “We are all proud to be Americans that live in a free society made up of many people, from many walks of life. The freedoms we enjoy today have not come without a price. Lying here before us and in cemeteries throughout this nation are men and women who gave their lives so that we can live in freedom and without fear.”
While the communities in Colusa County honor the service of veterans on multiple occasions throughout the year, Wreaths Across America serves as a reminder that no veteran should be forgotten.
The gesture was not to decorate the graves for the holidays but to remember veterans as they lived, and to thank them for their service.
“We are here to remember not their deaths, but their lives,” said Daniell Hendricks, Colusa Cemetery manager. “Each wreath is a gift of appreciation from a grateful nation.”
In addition to wreaths being placed at the markers of well known local veterans by their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, wreaths were placed on typically unadorned graves of veterans of long ago, including John Arnett, who did ranch work and mined for gold in western Colusa County but served in the Union Army, Company K, 7th California Volunteer Infantry in the Fort Yuma, Arizona District from 1964 to the end of the Civil War. Arnett never married and he had no children. He died at the age of 80 in 1905.
William Washington Banning served with the 25th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War. His grave marker is next to Frank Banning, who served in World War 1. Both graves were adorned with live balsam fir wreaths.
In Colusa, sponsored wreaths were placed on stands for each branch of the military by veterans and active duty members. Other participants in the Colusa Wreaths Across America ceremony included Colusa VFW Post No. 2446, Maxwell American Legion Post No. 218, Boy Scouts, Grandsons of heroes, and County Veterans Service Officer Don Parsons.
Williams Police Department Chief Jim Saso presented a wreath to Gold Star Mom Gloria Estrado to honor Private First Class Rueben “Boy” Lopez, who was killed in action on Aug. 11, 2011, while serving in Afghanistan. Colusa County Assistant Sheriff Michael Bradwell presented a wreath to Gold Star Dad Mark Hill, whose son Brandon Lee Hill died training at his Naval Base in Virginia on Jan. 27, 2020.
This year, 1,307 Colusa County veterans received wreaths, thanks to the sponsorship from members in the community.
Of those, 758 were placed in the Colusa Cemetery; 260 in the Colusa Catholic Cemetery; 10 in the Reservation Cemetery; and 279 in the Williams Cemetery.
In the Williams Cemetery, a sponsored wreath marked the grave of Vietnam veteran Ron Simmons, who died on Sept. l4.
Simmons, retired Williams Unified School District band and music teacher, was the longtime bugler at local ceremonies that honor veterans.
On Saturday, following a three-shot rifle volley, the playing of “Taps” by Zach Dennis concluded the ceremony in Simmons’ memory. ■