Seattle 206-362-5200 fax: 206-365-0682 Directions • Email Us
Brier 425-483-0555 fax: 425-489-8977 Directions • Email Us
Bothell 425-486-1281 fax: 425-489-1556 Directions • Email Us
On May 25th, 2013 there will be volunteers helping to prepare Abbey View Memorial Park Cemetery (Brier, WA) for Memorial Day coming up. Members from The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints will be helping to hand wash and prepare the markers in time for the Memorial Day Celebration. A big thank you to this group who are choosing to do this as one of their service projects!
On Monday, May 13th, 2013, 100 Alaska Airlines workers and families will be helping to prepare the graves for the upcoming Memorial day event. They will be helping to hand wash and prepare the 5,000 veterans’ headstones in time for the Memorial Day Celebration. A big thank you to Alaska Airlines who are choosing to do this as one of their HR events- helping make this day even more special.
This is a closed event, but if you would like to find out more information about this event and what you can do to help please contact Brenda Spicer at Bspicer@washelli.com.
For many Americans, Memorial Day is not just a day for getting together with family and friends. It is a day to celebrate a life lived, a time to decorate the grave with fresh flowers, but even more importantly, to clean and maintain the grave marker.
For tips on how to clean your granite marker or monument click here
At 7:00 AM the morning of Memorial Day, there will be a Flag Placement at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Each of the 5000 white marble upright markers in our Veterans Section will receive a flag placed by hundreds of volunteers that will come out for this event. Veterans, Scout groups, neighbors, Veterans, churches, local organizations and families, to name a few, will be among those who place the flags.
This is a Public event, and we would love for you to join us. If you have any questions please feel free to call Brenda Spicer at 206-362-5200, or email us at Veterans@washelli.com
This Ceremony is a way to remember and honor those who have served and are currently serving.
This is news coverage from King 5 News, on our Flag placement Ceremony the previous year.
To Learn more about of Veterans Section, click here.
National Grandparents Day is September 8th
Monday September 8th, 2013 is National Grandparents Day. It is the 34rd Anniversary since President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation creating a National Grandparents Day in 1978. At the time, Carter said the holiday would recognize “the importance and worth of the 17 million grandparents in our nation.”
The official flower of the United States National Grandparents Day is the Forget-Me-Not, which blooms in the spring. In honor of this, Evergreen Washelli is offering free Forget-Me-Not seed packets on Sunday September 8th. Please visit our main office any time between 9am and 5pm on Sunday, September 8th to receive a seed packet and plant some beautiful flowers in honor of your grandparents. After all, as President Carter wrote, “Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near-past, to the events and beliefs and experiences that so strongly affect our lives and the world around us.”
Donate a flag in memory of your loved one
On Friday June 14th, 2013, Evergreen Washelli will celebrate Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the United States flag in 1777. The American flag flies free – a unifying symbol of our nation that soars proudly above our homes, camp sites, small businesses, corporate offices, hospitals and schools. The U.S. Flag Code states that the flag “when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”
Evergreen Washelli is in need of 5’ x 9 ½’ flags for The Avenue of Colors in our Veterans Memorial Cemetery, as well as for retiring flags upon Veteran’s cremations.
You may donate by bringing in a flag for donation, donating any dollar amount towards a new flag, or donating $70 for a new flag in memory of a loved one.
If you wish to donate a flag or funds to purchase them, please contact Brenda Spicer at (206)362-5200.
We will accept flags for retirement on Flag Day.
On Monday May 27th, 2013, Evergreen Washelli will host our Annual Memorial Day Commemorative Service. Please join us as we honor America’s fallen and salute the flags on our “Avenue of Colors”.
In the morning, at 7:00 AM, there will be a Flag Placement at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Each of the 5000 white marble upright markers in the Veterans Section will receive a flag placed by hundreds of volunteers that will come out for this event. Veterans, scout groups, churches, local organizations and families will place the flags.
The 1:30 p.m. concert will feature marches, patriotic selections and other music provided by the Seattle Pacific University Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Drum Corps. The Service of Remembrance begins at 2:00 p.m.
Our guide this year will be David Bloch, son of the Medal of Honor recipient Orville Emil Bloch. We are extremely honored and excited to have him as our tour guide.
David will guide us through the history of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, as well as teach us about the stories of Private William C. Horton, PFC Lewis Albanese, PFC William Kenzo Nakamura, 2nd LT Robert Ronald Leisy, Coxswain Harry Delmar Fadden, and of course Colonel Orville Emil Bloch.
Kindly meet us at the Doughboy Statue in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 3:15 pm. We ask for a $5.00 suggested donation for attendance, which will go to the purchase of flags for the Avenue of Flags. For more information, and to reserve a spot, please call us at (206)362-5200 or email tours@washelli.com.
Rose Placement April 2nd, 2011
On Sunday May 12th 2013, the NROTC University of Washington will be placing more than 1,500 roses from the “Ten Grands” concert at gravesites at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park. The roses are a gift from The Seattle Symphony and “Ten Grands” Seattle. They will first be used on stage at the 6th annual “Ten Grands” concert at Benaroya Hall the previous evening.
Individual roses will be placed at the gravesites honoring veterans during a brief ceremony starting at 10 a.m. and will take approximately one hour to complete. The public is invited to observe this notable event. The event will take place at the Doughboy statue in the Evergreen Washelli Veterans Cemetery.
The Seattle Symphony has been “giving the gift of music” since its inception in September of 1999. Its purpose is to promote the performing arts and to make them accessible to all youthful and “at risk” members of the community. Inspired by the vision of composer/pianist Michael Allen Harrison, Seattle Symphony, Inc. (501) © (3) provides instruments, scholarships and musical programs to underserved students in the State of Washington. The Seattle Symphony has raised more than $2 million in the past ten years including both Oregon and now Washington. All funding has gone directly to helping serve the youth in our communications through music.
2000 Roses to Honor Veterans
Seattle University ROTC Honored Veterans in 2011
“Ten Grands” presented by RBC Wealth Management is a benefit for The Seattle Symphony, a concert whose proceeds will enable the funding of several music programs, supporting targeted groups where music would make a positive difference in the lives of many children. On May 11th, 2013, the “Ten Grands” concert will be held at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, beginning at 7pm. The “something for everyone” concert includes classical, jazz, blues, gospel, boogie woogie, pop, and contemporary music (including some original compositions). The musicians will play simultaneously, as soloists, in duets, quartets and other combinations. Tickets for this worthy cause are available at the Benaroya Hall Ticket Office.
Evergreen Washelli thanks The Seattle Symphony for their generous donation of the roses and supports their efforts in funding music education programs and activities.
Evergreen Washelli would like to thank The Seattle Symphony and the NROTC University of Washington for making Sunday’s rose placement a success. Below is a KOMO news story covering the event.
David Bloch at Washelli’s Medal of Honor Ceremony July 2011
Following the Memorial Day Commemorative Service on May 27, 2013, we invite you to attend a guided tour of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery and learn about the remarkable lives of the Medal of Honor recipients in our care.
Our guide this year will be David Bloch, son of the Medal of Honor recipient Orville Emil Bloch. We are extremely honored and excited to have him as our tour guide.
David will guide us through the history of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, as well as teach us about the stories of Private William C. Horton, PFC Lewis Albanese, PFC William Kenzo Nakamura, 2nd LT Robert Ronald Leisy, Coxswain Harry Delmar Fadden, and of course Colonel Orville Emil Bloch.
Kindly meet us at the Doughboy Statue in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 3:15 pm. We ask for a $5.00 suggested donation for attendance, which will go to the purchase of flags for the Avenue of Flags. For more information, and to reserve a spot, please call us at (206)362-5200 or email tours@washelli.com.
Saturday, December 14th, 2013 – 9:00 AM
Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park
11111 Aurora Ave N. – Seattle, WA 98133
Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park is hosting an annual wreath laying ceremony in conjunction with the Navy Wives Club of America, Totem #277 and Wreaths Across America.
This year Evergreen Washelli will be celebrating veterans buried within its Veterans’ Cemetery section on December 14th, 2013 at 9:00 am. Following a brief ceremony there will be laying of donated wreaths by volunteers.
This special wreath laying ceremony is to occur simultaneously with Arlington National Cemetery and other Veterans Cemeteries in all 50 states (such as the one at Evergreen Washelli) along with veteran’s burial grounds around the globe.
Wreaths Across America organizes this event with the message of remembering our fallen heroes, honoring those who serve, and teaching our children about the sacrifices made by veterans and their families to preserve our freedoms.
This event is being made possible through donated funds and hard work done by the Navy Wives Club of America. It is their vision that has made this 4th annual wreath laying ceremony possible. Wreaths will be laid throughout the Veterans Cemetery and also at the graves of the Medal of Honor recipients. One wreath for each branch of service will be displayed at Evergreen Washelli’s Doughboy statue in memory of all who have served.
It is interesting to note that each section with the Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery was named for a battle in which the United States Armed Forces participated. Bronze plaques in keeping with the military theme identifying each section of Evergreen Washelli’s Veterans Cemetery were contributed by the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton.
Donations and Volunteers are needed, If you would like to participate in this year’s wreath laying ceremony, please contact Lorraine Zimmerman of the Totem #277 Navy Wives Club of America. Or for more information about this event, please contact Brenda Spicer at Evergreen Washelli, 206-362-5200. For wreath donations, please refer to the link http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/store/individual-wreath-sponsorship/ for more details. Donations need to be received by November 26, 2013 in order to benefit the 2013 wreath laying ceremony.
About Evergreen Washelli’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is America’s most renowned veterans’ cemetery, but for the Seattle-area veterans and their spouses, being interred in Virginia would greatly hinder their loved ones from being able to visit their graves as often as they would prefer, especially prior to the jet age. As early as 1904, local veterans of the Spanish America war began to search for ways to honor their fallen comrades with a local cemetery of their own, but the start of the First World War delayed their efforts. Their search finally ended in 1927 when Clinton S. Harley, then General Manager for Evergreen Washelli, a veteran of the Spanish America War himself, offered a large section of the cemetery for the burial of veterans and their spouses. Today Evergreen Washelli has over 5000 Veterans in its care.
Last year’s ceremony was covered by Seattle’s KING TV and its affiliates, the video is available below.
King 5 Coverage of 2012 Wreaths Across America Ceremony