Public Invited to Help Lay Wreaths; Guest Speakers Are Retired Brigadier General Leslie Nieves, New Britain Mayor Bobby Sanchez
New Britain, Conn., December 3, 2025 – The Wreaths Across America of New Britain (WAANB) project’s annual holiday season honoring of service and sacrifice will take place for the eighth time on Saturday, December 13, with an 11 a.m. open-to-the-public ceremony at Fairview Cemetery featuring student performances, color guards and guest speakers City of New Britain Mayor Bobby Sanchez and Retired Connecticut National Guard Brigadier General Lesbia “Leslie” Nieves.
The public is invited and encouraged to both attend the ceremony and stay afterward to help lay more than 1,400 wreaths honoring those who served and those we’ve lost upon the gravesites of Veterans interred in the Veterans’ Sections of Fairview. The wreath-laying portion of the day will be led by members of the Wreaths Across America of New Britain Planning Committee, a cross-section of representatives from the local business, non-profit and veterans service organization communities. The cemetery is located at 120 Smalley Street, New Britain.
“The Wreaths Across America of New Britain ceremony is a powerful, moving annual tribute,” said Commander Dennis Taricani of the Disabled American Veterans, Hardware City Chapter 8, which manages the annual effort. “This is a wonderful chance for members of the public to actively pay tribute to Veterans we’ve lost, and to teach our younger generation about the value of service and sacrifice.”
In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will take place indoors in the downstairs hall of St. Francis Church, 1755 Stanley Street, New Britain. The laying of wreaths at the cemetery will take place after the ceremony regardless of weather. Any weather-related announcements or changes will be posted on the Wreaths Across America of New Britain Facebook page www.facebook.com/wreathsfornewbritain.
Mayor Sanchez, the long-time 25th Assembly District state representative who was recently elected New Britain’s 41st mayor, will be taking part in the Wreaths Across America of New Britain tribute for the first time. BG (CT, Ret.) Nieves, of Manchester, was a member of the Connecticut Army National Guard for 36 years and is an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran. She was elected to the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame earlier this year.
Also taking part in the December 13 ceremony are Wreaths Across America of New Britain 2025 Co-Chair Carin Mancini; Pastor Thomas A. Mills, Jr. of Grace Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and chaplain of the New Britain Police Department; Kristen Gauvin of Boxes to Boots; color guards representing DAV Hardware City Chapter 8, the New Britain High School JROTC and General Jozef Haller
Post 111; members of the New Britain High School Madrigal Singers and Golden Hurricanes Marching Band; the Marine Corps League, Hardware City Detachment 781 Rifle Squad; and DAV Chapter 8 Commander Taricani, who started New Britain’s Wreaths Across America effort in 2014 and will be retiring as Commander in 2026.
Also taking part are honorary designees who will place commemorative wreaths during the ceremony saluting the various branches of the military as well as POWs/MIAs. They include Manuel Reyes (U.S. Army wreath); Taricani (U.S. Marine Corps wreath); John Coyle (U.S. Navy wreath); Al Parlow (U.S. Air Force wreath); David Obedzinski (U.S. Coast Guard wreath); Dorothy Weber (U.S. Merchant Marines wreath); Diane Leone (U.S. Space Force wreath); and Lumnao Taricani (POWs/MIAs wreath).
Major sponsors of Wreaths Across America of New Britain 2025 include Patriot Sponsors the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, Mayor’s Trophy Charitable Fund, Al and Suzanne Parlow, Anthony Micacci and Family, Perkins Travel, Unity Lodge 148, Connecticut Freemasons and VFW Post 511, New Britain; Red Sponsors Costco, Home Sweet Home Realty, Mopars in Motion, New Britain Memorial and Donald D. Sagarino Funeral Home, Richards Machine, Rotary Club of New Britain-Berlin and Stew Leonard’s; and White Sponsors Acme Monaco, Ericson, Scalise & Mangan, the Hudyma Family, Don and Phyllis Naples, Image Ink, Rotary Club of Kensington-Berlin, Suburban Woman’s Club of Greater New Britain, Tomasso Group, Napcon Communications, St. Francis Catholic Church and T&T Complete Landscaping.
A complete list of sponsors can be found at www.davchapter8.org/wreaths-across-america-new-britain/sponsors/. For complete information on the Wreaths Across America of New Britain initiative, please visit www.davchapter8.org/wreaths-across-america-new-britain.
About Wreaths Across America
Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization’s yearlong mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. For more information, please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.
About the Disabled American Veterans
The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is a non-profit 501(c)(4) charity dedicated to building better lives for America’s disabled veterans and their families. Last year, the organization provided more than 235,000 rides to medical appointments and assisted veterans in filing more than 561,000 claims for benefits. With more than 1,200 chapters, including DAV Hardware City Chapter 8, and more than one million members across the country, DAV empowers our nation’s heroes and their families by helping to provide the resources they need and ensuring our nation keeps the promises made to them. For more information, please visit www.ihelpveterans.org.
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Media Contact: Dennis Buden, DAV Hardware City Chapter 8 (860) 558-0514 dennis.buden@davchapter8.org