GORHAM – A Gorham couple has taken a week out of their busy lives to do their part to honor military veterans.

Carl Phillips of Gorham, accompanied by his wife, Marcena, is driving a tractor-trailer loaded with wreaths bound from Maine for Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Phillips is the owner of Phillips and Sons Body Shop in Gorham.

At the wheel of a tractor trailer donated by Oakhurst Dairy, Phillips Monday was among a parade of Wreaths Across America big rigs that pulled onto the highway from Scarborough, where the caravan, which originated in northern Maine, parked for the night Sunday. Monday morning, Scarborough and South Portland police, state troopers and other cruisers from Maine towns, along with a group of motorcyclists flying flags, escorted the wreath caravan south.

Along the road to Virginia, the truck convoy loaded with thousands of wreaths will make several stops for ceremonies, including one Tuesday at West Point in New York and another at Valley Forge, Pa., on Dec. 8.

The convoy is scheduled to arrive at Arlington National Cemetery at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Wreaths Across America coordinates annual wreath-laying ceremonies on the second Saturday of December at Arlington, as well as veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond, according to its website.

“We also organize a week of events including international veterans tributes, ceremonies at State Houses and a week-long ‘Veteran’s Parade’ between Maine and Virginia where we stop along the way to spread our message about the importance of remembering our fallen heroes, honoring those who serve, and teaching our children about the sacrifices made by veterans and their families to preserve our freedoms,” says the website.

Phillips said the trailer he’s driving is carrying 750 wreaths.

“It’s loaded from front to rear,” he said early Monday in Cabela’s parking lot before he climbed into the cab.

This marks the 20th year that Worcester Wreath Co. in Maine has provided memorial wreaths for Arlington National Cemetery.

Phillips began the journey Saturday in the Washington County town of Harrington, where Worcester Wreath Co. is based. The convoy on Sunday stopped for ceremonies along the way in Maine.

“Every crossroads people were waiting and cheering,” Marcena Phillips said.

At Cabela’s, Vietnam veteran Tim Lamar and Jobe Doody, both of Scarborough, with Doody’s restored Army truck, were on hand to honor vets.

“My brother just got back from Afghanistan,” Doody said.

Morrill Worcester of Worcester Wreath Co. founded the nonprofit Wreaths Across America in 2007. But, the company began the tradition of providing wreaths in 1992, according to the Arlington National Cemetery Web site.

“We think its great people from Maine started this,” Doody said, as drivers of trucks loaded with wreaths readied for the journey.

With cameras clicking, the convoy hit the road Monday. A Navy veteran, Steve Haskell of South Portland, who is a member of the Stewart P. Morrill Post 35 of the American Legion, was on hand to film the convoy’s departure for community television.

Oakhurst Dairy decked out the truck especially for the mission.

“The truck is gorgeous,” Marcena Phillips said.

Carl and Marcena Phillips volunteered their time to deliver the wreaths, but, said Phillips, Oakhurst is paying expenses like for food and hotel bills. Oakhurst employees donated more than 75 of the wreaths on board.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Marcena Phillips said.

Gorham businessman Carl Phillips and his wife, Marcena,
volunteered to take a week away from their duties to drive a truck
and trailer, donated by Oakhurst Dairy, in the Wreaths Across
America convoy. (Photo by Rich Obrey)