This year’s planning for this endeavor started in May when Bunny and I first went up to the Worcester Wreath Company and met with Mr. Worcester. At this meeting he told us that we will be bringing 10,000 wreaths to Arlington. He had a vision of taking a whole week and stopping at different towns along the way to spread the word about America never forgetting our veterans, and especially those who gave all to keep America free.

He asked us to help him plan the trip from Maine to Arlington and that night we went to work and mapped out the whole trip and sent the planned route to him the next day. What he did next was unbelievable; he estimated all of the towns we would be passing thru on the journey: a total of 196 is what he gathered. Then his instructed his office staff sent out letters to each one of these town asking if they would be interested in us stopping in their individual cities on the trip south. And that was the start of this year’s escort to Arlington.

The following recap of events would not have been possible without the help of many dedicated Patriot Guard Riders. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the hundreds of PGR members and all the other organizations that helped to make this year’s escort so successful. Some of you rode long distances thru all kinds of weather to join us and show your respect to our heroes . . .we thank you.

Mr. and Mrs. Worcester and family and all their employees at the Worcester Wreath Co. we also salute you on a job well done . . .

DECEMBER 9, 2007

We arrived at the Worcester Wreath Company around 7:30and it was about 15 degrees out with strong wind blowing. People started arriving shortly thereafter and the final preparation for our departure was started. Soon both trucks were here along with 5 other trucks that would be making the trip with us as far as Portland Maine and then they were to split off and head out across America to deliver wreaths to our national cemeteries. We met with the police escort to go over last minute details and started lining up the vehicles in the order they would be traveling and then we departed. We had about 40 vehicles and one trike that ended up leading the trucks from Harrington to Arlington, and a fter a brief ceremony it was time to leave.

Again just like last year we left right on time at 12:00 noon. Our police cars and fire trucks led us out and down Route 1 to our first stop in Sullivan, Maine. As we traveled down Route 1 there were people out along the roadway waving flags and cheering us on as we passed thru their towns. When we arrived in Sullivan, Mr. & Mrs. Worcester presented the town with a wreath and a photo. The town also had snacks for everyone in the escort and after the presentation of the wreath we departed and headed south for the American Legion Post in Rockland Maine. We arrived in there a little late; however, the PGR greeted us with a flag line as we pulled into the parking lot. Again Mr. and Mrs. Worcester presented the Post with a wreath and photo. After a short break we departed heading south to our next stop. As we continued south we ended up running about two hours behind schedule due to the overwhelming response we received in every town where we came to.

Outside of one town in Maine there was a person standing next to the road with a lantern by his feet, and he was waving a big American Flag as we passed. Seeing him was very moving experience for us all, as none of us could imagine long he must have been waiting for us to pas by. This year again the Freeport Flag Ladies organized a group of people to stand along the roadway holding candles as we passed thru Freeport Maine on our way to Portland. In addition, when we passed thru Falmouth Main e the city honored our arrival by having every emergency vehicle there to greet us, complete with lights and sirens. Later, when we arrived in Portland for a wreath laying ceremony on Eastern Prom in Loring Park, we met with the Mayor and a group of AMVETS and completed the wreath ceremony. After the ceremony the AMVET Post provided the escort riders with supper, after which we departed and arrived at our first overnight stop in South Portland Maine.

DECEMBER 10, 2007

The day started out with me and Mr. Worcester going to a radio/TV talk show for an interview. We arrived back at the hotel in time to line everyone up and get ready to start out on day two. The police were there right on time and we left South Portland on our way south to our first stop of the day, which was the Scarborough Maine VA Hospital to meet some residents and to present a wreath and photo to the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Worcester enjoyed meeting with the Veterans and thanking them all for their service to our country. After our short visit we continued our trip south to our next stop, which was at the Old Orchard Beach Maine elementary school.

When we arrived the students were standing out in the snow waving American flags and cheering our arrival. We had a nice wreath ceremony outside in the snow and then Mr. Worcester went into the gym and addressed the 4th and 5th graders. After the ceremony we departed for Wells Maine where our next wreath ceremony was held at the Wells Middle School Gymnasium. The school gym was full of students waiting to hear the presentation by the Worcesters, and before we left they provided a reception with snacks for all the escort people. We departed once more and continued our journey south to the Kittery Trading Post in Kittery Maine. When we arrived the road was lined with hundreds of people waving flags and cheering, where we had our next wreath ceremony. Before I go on I would like to thank the Police Emerald Society of Maine for doing a great job in escorting us from Harrington to Kittery, and thank the two Maine State Police Troopers who would go the rest of the way with us to the state line .

After we departed, we were back on Route 1 heading south to the next stop that was also the staging area for members of the PGR from New Hampshire to meet us and escort us the rest of the way thru New Hampshire. Once we enter New Hampshire we passed numerous groups of people along the road waving flags and cheering us on as we past by. The escort continued to our next wreath ceremony in Salisbury Mass achusetts at the elementary school where we met with the students and presented a wreath to the school. We departed and continued south to our next presentation stop at the Bedford VA Hospital, but the visit had to be cancelled because we were running too late. However before we left, we gave the wreath to one of the local PGR members who would present it to the hospital the next day.

We then headed to Foxboro Massachusetts where we would stop and spend the night. As we arrived at Gillette Stadium, where the trucks would be parked for the night, we saw two fire trucks had their ladders extended out with an American flag hanging between them. As the escort to passed under the flag, we saw a large crowd there to greet us and they had snacks for all the escort. In addition, a gentleman there gave us gift cards for the local Applebee’s restaurant where we all had supper that night. I would like to take this time to say thank you to the New Hampshire and Massachusetts State Police for the great job they did escorting us thru their respective states.

December 11, 2007

The parking lot at the hotel was covered with ice this morning. We were met at the hotel by two Massachusetts Ride captains to escort us to the staging area at Gillette Stadium. Upon arriving at the Stadium there were people there to great us with coffee and donuts and to wish us a safe journey. Here is where a second bike joined us and would also be with us the entire trip to Arlington. Soon we were lined up and headed out with the help of the Mass State Police to our next stop (Emerald Square Mall) to pick up our RI PGR escort. When we arrived at the mall there had to be 50-60 bikes waiting for us. Although it was a little icy and cold they were there to escort us thru RI. After a short break we headed out to our next stop at the Seabee Museum.

What a great job the Rhode Island State Police did in escorting us thru Providence and thru the state of RI. We arrived at the Seabee Museum where we had a short wreath ceremony and they had lunch for us. Then we all lined up to head to our next stop. The next stop would be in Connecticut to pick up our Connecticut PGR escort. We arrived on time (thanks Ed) and met the Connecticut escort. We had a short break and then headed out to Groton, Connecticut where we had a short wreath ceremony at the town hall. After that we headed for Old Saybrook, Connecticut where we would spend the night. When we arrived in Old Saybrook it seemed like the whole town was out to greet us. We had a short ceremony at the town memorial and then went to the high school where they fed us all supper. It’s hard to describe the greeting we received in this town so all I can say is thank you to all involved in planning this great welcome.

DECEMBER 12, 2007

Before leaving the Old Saybrook High School fed everyone a great breakfast then had a Ceremony in the gym where the Connecticut Lieutenant Governor was there along with the State Attorney General, to say thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Worcester. Also as a surprise we presented Bobby Easton with a wreath for all the work he put in on this project. It was time to head out and the students lined the street as we passed by. After leaving Old Saybrook town after town in Connecticut had people out to great us. Our next stop was at the Hamden Middle School where they had a nice wreath ceremony outside. We then headed out to our next stop in Connecticut the Tomlinson Middle School in Fairfield where they had a full auditorium of kids when we arrived. They had a nice wreath ceremony and presented the Worcesters with home made cookies and snacks. Our next stop would be at the Darien, Connecticut VFW where we would park the trucks for the night. They also had supper for us and a great Irish band that helped everyone relax. Mr. Worcester had to go into New York City to do an interview with Fox TV but his wife and family stayed to enjoy a great supper.

DECEMBER 13, 2007

The VFW had a continental breakfast for us before we left and the PGR members from New York State staged for our trip thru the Big Apple . We all lined up and off we went heading for our first stop of the day in Rye New York and the arrived at the town hall with a large group of people to meet us. We had a wreath ceremony and Mr. Worcester was given the key to the city. After the ceremony we headed to our next stop in Mamaroneck New York where we had an outside ceremony and it started snowing during the ceremony and made it very emotional. The town served a lunch for us in the town hall.

After lunch we headed to our next stop that was to be the VFW in Fort Lee New Jersey; however, they had a fire a few days before we arrived. The Worcesters wanted to do something regardless so a wreath was given to one of the Ride Captains in New Jersey to be presented to the VFW. The ride thru New York State was great and the police kept us all together as we headed for the George Washington Bridge. We had planned to cross the bridge at 1:00 pm and after months of planning the bridge was shut down and we crossed right on time and met a group of PGR riders from New Jersey escort us on to the other side. The PGR riders from New Jersey joined in the escort and brought us to our next stop in Morrisville, Pennsylvania where we stopped and spent the night.

DECEMBER 14, 2007

We met with members of the PGR from Pennsylvania this morning and went over the route today and where we would be stopping. After a brief ride meeting we headed out to our first stop of the day. As we arrived at the Maternity BVM Elementary School the students were lined up out in front of the school with American flags yelling USA . . . USA . . . USA and they kept yelling that until they were brought into the school. We had a great welcome here from all the kids and the Worcesters presented a wreath to the school. Bunny tried to insight a riot by getting all the kids to yell USA . . . USA . . . USA and she also led them in the Pledge of Allegiance. At this stop the members of the Pennsylvania PGR also presented a wreath to the family of a slain Philadelphia Policeman. The school also gave out Philly pretzels to all in the escort riders.

After the ceremony we continued to our next stop which would cross the state line into Maryland where we would meet up with the PGR members and police from Maryland. We had a short pre-ride meeting and then headed out to our first stop in Bel Air Maryland for a wreath ceremony at the town memorial. After the ceremony we headed out for Elkridge Maryland to the Harley Davidson Dealership where we had lunch and took a break before heading out to our last stop of the day. We arrived at the Branchville Fire Department where we would park the trucks for the night and stayed the night in College Park Maryland. The final leg of the trip would take us into Washington DC and then on to Arlington National Cemetery.

DECEMBER 15, 2007

This morning we all staged at the Branchville Fire Station and we were all pretty excited about what the day would bring. We had our pre-ride meeting and took a moment of silence for one of our PGR brothers Brad Winchester and his girl friend Nancy, and then dedicated the ride into Arlington in their honor. The line up was set and the police were there to escort us out and on into Arlington. We arrived before the crowds and got all the wreaths unloaded in about 1 ½ hour’s time. We estimated that over 3000 people were present to witness this awesome gathering and ceremony. This year the wreaths were laid in Section 33 and also in Section 60, where the families of our Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers were invited to lay wreaths on their graves.

I would like to thank all the generous people who helped the escort along its way, like the gentlemen who met us in Foxboro and gave everyone in the escort a $15 gift cards for Applebee’s, and thank you to the AMVETS, VFW’S, American Legion Posts; all of the High Schools, Middle Schools, and elementary schools along the route that provided us with meals and snacks; and to the gentlemen in Morrisville, PA who found us all eating in a restaurant and then bought us all supper. I think those of us in the escort only had to pay for a couple of meals the whole way down. Also I would like to thank all the police and fire departments who without their help we never would have made it from Maine to Washington DC as quickly and safely as we did, and of coarse Bunny and I would like to thank the greatest group of individuals ever assembled: THE PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS who made this incredible journey possible.

Thank you doesn’t seem enough to say but as a Patriot Guard Riders we realize that is all we need to say. For those of you that couldn’t make the trip you were with us in spirit for we are one: "The Patriot Guard Riders".