With armfuls of evergreen wreaths, volunteers spread out across cemeteries in Mancos and Cortez earlier this month, stopping at headstones bearing military insignia to honor buried veterans.
About 800 wreaths were placed in Cortez and more than 100 in Mancos this holiday season, and organizers say planning for next year is already underway.
Members of the Sleeping Ute Mountain Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the VFW Auxiliary Post 5231 placed wreaths Dec. 13 on about 930 graves. The effort coincides with the national program Wreaths Across America. Although this year’s ceremony has passed, sponsorships now will fund wreaths for December 2026. Organizers are asking for help to expand the program in Cortez and surrounding towns.
“Eventually, we’d like all the veterans’ graves covered,” said Crystal Oveson, president of VFW Auxiliary and local coordinator for Wreaths Across America.
“There are approximately a thousand in the Cortez cemetery, but that doesn't include veterans’ sections, which add another 300,” Oveson said.
The local program started about five years ago, and families commonly take wreaths they purchase to Mancos Cedar Grove and other cemeteries across Montezuma County. Oveson said this year was particularly successful thanks to support from local businesses.
On National Wreaths Across America Day, about 5,200 cemeteries participate, including Arlington National Cemetery. All wreaths are made from balsam fir in Maine and shipped to Cortez. They arrive in early December, and volunteer truck drivers transport them. Because of logistics, the cutoff for this year’s placement was the end of November.
Community members may sponsor wreaths year-round. Oveson said sponsors should order through a local group link so wreaths are credited locally:
Either links for VFW Auxiliary, https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/163639, or the Sleeping Ute Mountain Chapter DAR, https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/170261.
Wreaths cost $17, and purchases made before Dec. 31 are doubled through a buy-one-get-one offer. Sponsors can make a grave-specific request by entering a veteran’s name or may opt to place a wreath themselves instead of a volunteer.
“As the sponsorship groups, we are also the custodians responsible for placing the wreaths and removing them once they start to look bad,” Oveson said.
Cathy Stone, a member of the Sleeping Ute Mountain Chapter DAR, participated in the Mancos wreath placement alongside family members, friends and local children, including Mancos third graders.
“It’s about honoring our veterans,” Stone said. “We would love all veterans to have a wreath. We have a lot, but we still don't have enough wreaths to cover every grave.”
She said involving youths is central to the program’s mission.
“We tried to explain to them what a veteran is, why it was important and why their sacrifice means a lot,” Stone said. “I think it helped change their understanding of remembrance a little bit.”
Organizers said by expanding the program to Mancos, they hope to designate it as an official Wreaths Across America location in future years. Oveson estimates there are thousands of veterans’ graves in Mancos.
For Stone, honoring through wreath-laying is deeply personal.
“I have many relatives buried there – my granddad, my dad, great uncles, and my great-great granddad,” Stone said. “My great-great granddad, Francis Herman Wagner, served in the Civil War.”
