Favino seeks volunteers for Nov. 20
Forget the falling leaves, the shorter days and the cooler temperatures! When Lisa Favino calls, I know that winter is getting near.
She’s the person who brought Wreaths Across America to Cornwall. The annual tribute started in 1992 when the Worcester Wreath Company donated 5,000 wreaths to decorate the graves of veterans in Arlington Cemetery.
The gesture started an annual tradition that gradually spread across the country and reached Orange County in 2017. It began with a brief service at the Veterans Cemetery in Goshen. And was followed by volunteers walking through the graveyard and placing a wreath at every headstone.
When Ms. Favino heard about it, she thought of her father, Parmie Pirillo, a World War II veteran who is buried in St. Thomas Cemetery. “Why couldn’t we decorate the graves at St. Thomas?” she wondered.
So she got permission from the necessary authorities and then counted the military markers. There are now 357 of them.
Wreaths Across America came to Cornwall in 2019.
It was snowed out last year, which brings us to Ms. Favino’s recent phone call. She wasn’t looking for donations. She has lined up all her sponsors and has paid for all the wreaths. An 18-wheeler will deliver them to the church in December.
What she needs is a group of volunteers to join her at the cemetery at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20 and place stakes in the ground next to every veteran’s grave. People can just show up or they can email her at stthomaswaa@gmail.com to let her know they’re coming.
At St. Thomas, on Dec. 18, there will be a brief ceremony at noon, which will include the recognition of each branch of the service. Ms. Favino has asked an elected official to speak before the decoration of the graves.
