January 11, 2026 was an absolute beautiful day, just enough sunshine to provide warmth, a soft breeze came thru occasionally and many volunteers met at the Oak Wood Cemetery in Conroe, to remove the wreaths that had been placed on the veterans graves.
Among those volunteers, were four members of the Thomas Jefferson Stubbs 2523, Conroe Chapter of the Texas Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy. They were: Jackie Barkmann. Debbie Chance, Eva Rains and Jessica Rizk. Mrs. Rizk has chaired this event for the Stubbs Chapter, five years now and the chapter has been participating in Wreaths Across America for seven years. The Stubbs chapter thanks Mrs. Rizk for putting this event together and she has the faithful support of her husband and two children also.
The oldest grave at Oak Wood Cemetery dates back to 1869 and on December 13, 2025, some 253 wreaths were placed at the grave site of all veterans from all the wars. It is a beautiful site to see those brillant, vivid evergreen wreaths with a red bow, placed all over the cemetery. It is a honor and privilege to be able to place one of these wreaths at a veterans grave site.
Picture and article by Eva Rains, Publicity Chairman for the Stubbs Chapter