Veteran 12 10 2015

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35 cents

VOL. 4/ISSUE 6

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2015

Honor a veteran’s grave with special holiday wreath

Santa wears combat boots

Mary Kemper STAFF WRITER

mkemper@veteranvoiceweekly.com

Ever since Wreaths Across America was begun in 1992 by Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, to today’s nationwide ceremonies, the mission has been simple: Make sure every fallen hero is given a special wreath on his or her grave at holiday time. Here in Palm City and Port St. Lucie, at precisely noon on Dec. 12, wreaths will be laid at the exact same time as thousands of others around the country. Palm City’s branch is new this year, spearheaded by Gold Star Mother Karen Zook, at Forest Hills Memorial Park, 2001 S.W. Murphy Road, Palm City. Zook’s son, Marine Corps Cpl. Ian Zook, died Oct. 12 in Anbar Province, Iraq. Port St. Lucie has already conducted wreath-laying ceremonies at White Oak Cemetery for many years, and this year is adding Rolling Oaks Cemetery to its effort. The Port St. Lucie branch is headed by Air Force veteran Diane Aldomovar. While Rolling Oaks Cemetery, located at 2200 S.W. Del Rio Blvd., will be the venue for the official ceremony, wreaths are encouraged to be laid at White City Cemetery as well, located at 3800 Sunrise Blvd., Fort Pierce. Wreaths Across America fundraises all year long to be able to provide wreaths for all fallen heroes. You can help by visiting give.wreathsacrossamer-

See WREATHS page 7

Photo courtesy of the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum’s SHIP Store Santa was caught red-hatted shopping at the National Navy UDT-SEAL SHIP Store in Fort Pierce. Either that or it’s Air Force veteran James Seaboyer who looks an awful lot like Ol’ St. Nick. The store is open to the public without admission to the museum, and is a great place to shop for veterans’ holiday gifts.

Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE

pmccallister@veteranvoiceweekly.com

Santa Claus loves veterans, but they can be so hard to shop for. Well, hard to shop for unless holiday gift hunters visit some of the Space and Treasure coasts’ military-themed stores that help great causes. “I’ve got so much new stuff in that store since last year,” said Pete Sayles, president of the Victory Center Military Store at the Indian River Mall. “Our inventory has doubled.” The Veterans Council of Indian River County owns and runs the Victory Store. The workers are all volunteers, and proceeds help the council with a number of veterans-assistance projects. Sayles said shoppers will find many things they

won’t at other places. “The biggest thing they’ll find is (military-themed) caps, T-shirts and apparel,” he said. And not just T-shirts. These are T-shirts helping entrepreneur veterans. “We now have four veteran-owned lines,” Sayles said. Those apparel lines are Grunt Style, Ranger Up, Nine Line, and Frag Out. The Victory Store has stocking stuffers galore. “We also have challenge coins,” Sayles said. The Victory Store has a lounge for folks to sit down and enjoy coffee while regaling others with military stories while their companions are shopping elsewhere in the mall. Yeah, in other words, they’ll

See SANTA page 3


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