BATON ROUGE — On Sunday, Sept. 29, “Jeeping for Vets,” which includes jeep drivers from the Baton Rouge and surrounding areas, will gather for an event to honor veterans and raise money to benefit the Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana’s Wreaths Across America project. The public is invited to attend the free event.
Wreaths Across America is a program that aims to place wreaths on the graves of fallen soldiers. Last year’s local Jeep event raised enough funds for 547 wreaths, which is only 10 percent of the 5,000 veterans laid to rest at Baton Rouge National Cemetery. By December last year, the Blue Star Mothers of Louisiana were able to raise enough money to honor 4,200 of these fallen soldiers, said Denise Singleton, chapter president.
“We’ve sponsored the cemetery since our inception nearly 20 years ago. We have never been able to get enough wreaths sponsored,” Singleton said.
The event “Jeeping for Vets” will happen this Sunday from 12-5 p.m. at Greenoaks Funeral Home and Memorial Park (9595 Florida Blvd in Baton Rouge). There will be food, live music and activities for the whole family.
While entrance to the event is free, attendees are highly encouraged to bring cash for any donations or purchases they want to make.
This is the fifth year that the Patriot Guard Riders have been honored at Greenoaks and the second year to incorporate Jeep riders and groups into the event, said Gretchen Varnell of Greenoaks, who is an associate member of Blue Star Mothers as well as a member of the Patriot Guard Riders. The event will honor Gold Star Families, as well, during what is nationally known as Gold Star Family Weekend.
There will be a Jeep show, and military and law enforcement vehicles will be present, as well. There are currently more than 20 jeeps entered into the event from locations throughout south Louisiana. Jeep owners who don’t want to be in the show are still encouraged to bring their rides along.
To register for the show, Jeep owners can go online and donate a wreath (the cost is $17) for the Blue Star Mothers project. The Jeep show will have four divisions with prizes awarded in each category: classic, patriotic, show and shine, and best-in-show (People’s Choice).
Younger attendees, from ages 5 to 13, have the opportunity to race a track course with remote control Jeeps. Winners of the age brackets will get a trophy and a prize pack. The entrance fee is a $1 donation.
Multiple community businesses and organizations are sponsors of the event, donating prizes, food and beverages, hay and items for the remote control races, and much more, Varnell said.
At the end of Sunday’s event, the Louisiana Patriot Guard Riders will offer a 21-gun salute, and Rocky Bush with the riders will play Taps.
Wreaths Across America
“We hope to raise close to $4,000 from the public’s donations,” she said. Greenoaks’ Resource Committee also applied for a grant, and the committee will announce and release those funds Sunday. Last year, she said the committee was able to contribute an extra $5,000 to go toward the wreaths.
The monetary donations for wreaths on Sunday will help in going toward the Blue Star Mothers project and placing of wreaths on veterans’ headstones at Baton Rouge National Cemetery on Dec. 14.
“We invite the public to not only come to this event, but also, when the wreaths come in, go in and actually put a wreath on a veteran’s grave,” Varnell explained.
Singleton went on to say that the goal of the project is more than just about wreaths.
“We’re not trying to sponsor wreaths for headstones. We’re sponsoring wreaths for the American hero who lays at that headstone. We just never want to lose sight of the ‘why’ we do what we do,” she told UWK. “So many of the veterans that are buried there may no longer have family members that can remember them.”
The Baton Rouge National Cemetery no longer buries soldiers, but graves date back as far as the Civil War. It has more than 5,000 headstones of soldiers who have died.
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