For more than 10 minutes, three women from Ascension at Home stood in the cold in front of lighted tree outside Howard Young Medical Center in Woodruff and read aloud the names of the 250 people that passed away in hospice this year.
The ceremony looked a lot different this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had in the past included memorials in the form of ornaments on trees inside so people could come and take their ornament as a remembrance of their loved one,” said Ascension at Home Volunteer Coordinator Mary Ellen Kaminski.
Because of COVID-19, the ceremony Tuesday night was limited to just members of the media.
Even without the crowd and singing, the ceremony and its purpose still shine as bright as the lights on the tree.
“This is a tradition we’ve done for 33 years now. It’s important for us to come to together as a community and show the strength that we have even during this pandemic. The determination, like that poem that we had, the determination that we have to get through this and remember our loved ones and know that they’ll always be in our lives,” said Kaminski.
Even though they don’t have the memorial ornaments this year, it’s still accepting donations through the Howard Young Foundation or you can contact Kaminski directly at 1-800-234-3542.
There will also be a tree lit in honor of those who have died at Ascension St. Mary’s Hospital in Rhinelander.
