Leetonia village administrator Gary Phillips, Oakdale Cemetery clerk Heather Kelm, Larry Scragg on behalf of the local Wreaths Across America effort and Leetonia parks board member Marilyn Heddleson pose in front of Oakdale Cemetery’s Civil War Memorial. Currently 355 veteran graves are on the inventory to get memorial wreaths this year Saturday, Dec. 14 during their first year in the Wreaths Across America program. While the village’s American Legion and Washingtonville’s Veterans of Foreign Wars posts are covering the cost of this year’s wreaths, donations are being accepted to offset the costs for 2025. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

LEETONIA — Wreaths Across America is coming to Oakdale Cemetery thanks to a local contingent, making its first presentation in the village.

Larry Scragg, who has assisted in nearby Wreaths Across America efforts in nearby Columbiana, will coordinate efforts in his hometown of Leetonia at the cemetery.

As Heather Kelm, who is the clerk out at Oakdale Cemetery, explained, being selected for the Wreaths Across America program is a huge honor.

“We are trying to get donations next year for wreaths. The Leetonia American Legion and Washingtonville Veterans of Foreign Wars posts are covering them for this year,” Kelm explained.

The donation amounts run $17 for one wreath, $85 for five wreaths or $204 for a dozen wreaths.

Oakdale Cemetery is the final resting place for 355 veterans, according to Kelm’s inventory.

The cost would amount to around $5,950 to cover all 355 graves.

Scragg also said that the local effort is looking for volunteers to place the wreaths during the ceremony, after the service on that Saturday.

The ceremony will be held at noon, Saturday, Dec. 14 at Oakdale Cemetery and the laying of the wreaths will follow.

For information on Wreaths Across America, visit http://wreathsacrossamerica.org or the Leetonia effort in particular, call Kelm at 330-727-7006.

If donors choose to instead mail a check to village hall for next year’s wreaths, it needs to be made out to WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA with OHOAKD specified in the memo line as that is the code for the Oakdale effort.

Donations are being accepted online at http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/OHOAKD.