A wreath is an ancient symbol to honor the dead and its design represents a circle of eternal life.
At the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen, volunteers will lay about 7,000 wreaths at graves this holiday season. In addition, the cemetery has 16 columbariums, which are walls that contain niches to hold urns of cremated remains. Currently, 818 spaces are filled. In past years, full-size wreaths laid on the ground below each row because space on the walls was limited.
But this year, Patty Aquiningoc, head of the support committee for Friends of Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery, took on the challenge of making a mini wreath for each of the graves on the columbarium.