Annual Presidential Wreath Laying & Buchanan Birthday Celebration

Wreath Laying at Woodward Hill Cemetery at 10am. Buchanan Birthday Celebration at Wheatland at 12pm until 2pm. 

The 226th anniversary of President James Buchanan’s birth will be commemorated on April 22, 2017 and will feature the annual presentation of the White House wreath for the President’s grave site at Woodward Hill Cemetery starting at 10am followed by a Birthday Celebration at Wheatland starting at 12pm and lasting till 2pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

The day’s events begin at 10am at Woodward Hill Cemetery for the Presidential Wreath-Laying Ceremony. The Ceremony includes remarks delivered by Brigadier General David Wood and County Commissioner Joshua G. Parsons. The James Buchanan Elementary School 5th Grade Chorus will sing the National Anthem after which two 5th Grade students, in historic costume, will assist Brigadier General Wood with the presentation of the Presidential Wreath at Buchanan’s tomb.

Following the ceremony, the public is invited by the students and PTO of James Buchanan Elementary School to President James Buchanan’s Wheatland for a 226th Birthday Celebration. Free tours of the President’s beloved home, Wheatland, are available from 12pm until 2pm with a tour beginning every 15 minutes and the last free tour beginning at 1:45. These tours will be led by the Buchanan Elementary School students as they interpret the history of Wheatland, James Buchanan, his family and his life. Enjoy a slice of James Buchanan’s birthday cake with some punch provided through the generosity of the James Buchanan Elementary Parent Teacher Organization (PTO.)