A Wreaths Across America memorial event honoring American veterans was held Dec. 17 at the Fountain Hill Cemetery. Some 300 wreaths were placed on most of the veterans’ graves in the large cemetery overlooking the borough of Fountain Hill.

Despite the freshly fallen snow on a cold morning, more than 150 participants attended the ceremony at the pavilion in the 1882 cemetery. Similar events are held at 1,100 nationwide locations each year at Christmas.

The Cedar Hill Memorial Park in Allentown held its annual veterans’ remembrance ceremony and wreath laying on the same day.

Ron Frankenfield, the coordinator of the local memorial event, said at the end of the ceremony, “Help us lay these beautiful wreaths at the graves of veterans buried within Fountain Hill Cemetery and pause to say a prayer of thanks for the life they shared with us.” Frankenfield, a Bethlehem resident and Army veteran, said the plan is to hold the event every year on the Saturday a week before Christmas.