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Wreaths Across America is a pack service project. Our Cub Scouts and their families volunteer to place wreaths on grave sites at Arlington National Cemetery. Each year we help place hundreds of the 145,000 donated wreaths.
Sample Agenda follows:
WHEN? Saturday, December xx, 201x, RAIN, SNOW OR SHINE
WHERE? Pack 1509 will meet on the train platform (NOT BY THE FARECARD MACHINES) at VAN DORN STREET Metro Station (Blue Line). This allows us to avoid changing trains at the Pentagon.
WHAT TIME WILL WE MEET? 8:00am SHARP on the Metro platform (give yourself an extra 10 minutes if you need to buy Metro farecards and time to walk from the parking areas). We will take the train scheduled to leave at 8:18 AM and heads directly to Arlington National Cemetery. We do not need to change trains.
DO I NEED TO LET SOMEONE KNOW I AM COMING? Not necessarily but it would be helpful if your den leader knows you are coming. If you intend to come and are late, we will know to look for you at Arlington Cemetery. Be sure to exchange cell phone numbers with someone else who is attending. NOTE THAT CELL SERVICE IS OVERWHELMED THAT MORNING AT ARLINGTON AND CALLS OFTEN DO NOT GO THROUGH.
WHERE WILL PACK 1509 BE VOLUNTEERING? In past years, we have supported the WAA effort on Lincoln Drive at Section 43. To get there from Metro, walk straight toward the circle at the end of Memorial Drive. Enter the right side gate and head up the hill until you meet Sherman Drive. Then walk down the hill (through the grass) to the trucks on Lincoln Drive below.
If anything changes, we will attempt to notify by text message via rainedout.net letting people know where we are in the cemetery. To sign up for rainedout texts, please text CUBPACK1509 to 84483 to receive Pack 1509 text alerts (standard messaging and data rates apply). Note that the cellular networks are overwhelmed that day, so messages may be delayed in arriving.
HOW MUCH FARE WILL I NEED?
Round trip fare, per passenger, is:
$6.20 on a SmartTrip card. All passengers must now use a SmarTrip Card. These can be purchased at the station for $10, including $8 in initial value.
Add an additional 5 cents if you plan on returning via the Rosslyn station. (8.25 paper/6.25 SmartTrip)
If Arlington Cemetery station is very crowded at the end of the event. Some of us found it easier to walk to Rosslyn Metro at the end due to crowding at Arlington Cemetery Station. Also, please remember to buy round trip fare ahead of time.
PARKING AT METRO? Parking is FREE on weekends at Metro stations.
DO NOT drive to Arlington Cemetery. The parking lot is restricted on WAA Day to special permit holders. You will NOT be allowed in.
WHAT WILL WE BE DOING?
This year they are again attempting to cover the whole cemetery, so there will be over 250,000 wreaths to place on gravesites in the cemetery. Once all the wreaths are placed, you are welcome to go home. There are other activities, such as a wreath laying at John Kennedy’s tomb and at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
Upon arriving at the cemetery, we will head towards the right (North) side of the cemetery between sections 38 and 43. It will be COLD and the grass will be wet, so dress appropriately. Scouts should wear their scout caps. Neckerchiefs can be worn outside coats so the boys can be identified as Cub Scouts.
(You may want to place a card with your home and cell phone numbers in your scout’s coat pocket in case a scout gets lost.)
You can bring food or drink in a backpack to have sometime during the day, but remember that eating and drinking are not allowed on Metrorail or inside Arlington National Cemetery.
See the Wreaths Across America Arlington Cemetery page for this year's schedule here.
We will not gather as a group for the return.
This is NOT a drop off activity. Each scout needs to come with a parent or a responsible adult who will be in charge of him. Not all den leaders may be attending. Siblings are welcome, of course.
Please remind your children to maintain a respectful attitude at Arlington Cemetery. This includes no running, roughhousing, loud joking and other behavior that would be offensive to a veteran or a family member of the deceased. In many sections, we would be the only person to attend to that specific grave in a year (or longer).
Please take time to talk to your scout about the sacrifices of the deceased and when in history they have served.
We'd like the scouts to remain attentive to the families of service members from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who typically attend in large numbers. There are always family members of service members in attendance and we want to be particularly sensitive to them. As was the case last year one of the sections that will have wreaths laid in it is Section 60, which is where service members from Afghanistan and Iraq are buried.
More information about the Wreaths Across America program can be found at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.
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