WINDHAM – When Libby Sawyer and her mother, Ann Jordan, decided they wanted to place wreaths on every veteran’s grave in Windham, they projected they would need to purchase 400 to 500 wreaths.

As it turns out, there are approximately 760 veterans’ graves in town.

“We just kind of assumed, and we assumed wrong,” said Sawyer, who co-owns Studio Flora. “But you know, we like the challenge.”

Since the revised figure has emerged, members of the community have pledged to help make bows, and offer financial support, as well.

“One woman came in and she said, ‘OK, in my family there’re five veterans that are in the Windham cemeteries, how much is that going to cost?’” Sawyer said. “I told her and she said, ‘All right, I want to cover my part of it.’”

The Windham Historical Society and many others are attempting to raise $3,000 to cover the cost of the wreaths. They are distributing flyers, hosting tables at holiday craft fairs, soliciting donations from churches, and leaving donation jars at local businesses. Donors will receive a patriotic ribbon and pin.

After the wreaths are assembled, members of the Windham Veterans of Foreign Wars post and the Boy Scouts will lay them on the graves in Windham’s 31 cemeteries on Dec. 7 and 8. The Boy Scouts will handle the large, public cemeteries, and the VFW will take the smaller, private cemeteries.

“That’s quite a task for the Boy Scouts alone to do it,” said Roger Timmons, the commander of the Windham VFW. “We just offered if we could be of assistance.”

Sawyer thinks that the VFW and the Boy Scouts will be able to handle the wreath-laying, and that any more volunteers could cause complications. She encourages those interested in helping to donate money.

“As far as showing up to help lay the wreaths, I think too many people is just going to cause a bit of chaos,” Sawyer said. “It’s going to be a lot of work.”

Dump trucks from Nathan Sawyer’s landscaping business, Sebago Gardens, will transport the wreaths to the cemeteries. Studio Flora, Sebago Gardens, and Little Log Cabin will split the remaining costs associated with the wreaths.

“The idea is to give recognition to the veterans and to showcase what the meaning of the holiday really is about giving,” Sawyer said. “You know, we’re a retail company, so we hope to do a really good business through the season, and sometimes our mindsets just get stuck on that. And we’re a company that’s in the community and we want to show that it’s about giving back to the community, too.”

Perhaps next year, the wreath-laying effort will be extended to other towns in the area, Sawyer said.

“We really wanted to do Windham and Raymond, and we hope that next year we can do both,” she said. “Then maybe every year, add in another community in the Lakes Region area, because it’s a big deal and it’s kind of what Christmas is about, giving, and I think a lot of us forget that.”

Libby and Nathan Sawyer pose with the type of wreaths that will be placed on veterans’ graves across Windham in early December. The Sawyers will use their respective businesses, Studio Flora and Sebago Gardens, to support the wreath-laying effort.