On Veterans Day, members of the Boothbay Region Garden Club and veterans laid a wreath at the Blue Star Memorial, on Route 27 next to Sherman Field, Boothbay Region High School, to honor all veterans of the United States Armed Services past, present and future.

The Blue Star Program began with the planting of 8,000 dogwood trees by the New Jersey Council of Garden Clubs in 1944 as a living memorial to veterans of World War II. In 1945, the National Council of State Garden Clubs (now National Garden Clubs, Inc.) adopted this program and began a Blue Star Highway system that covers thousands of miles across the Continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. Blue Star Memorial Highway Markers were placed along the way. The Blue Star was adopted because it had become an icon in World War II and was seen on flags and banners in homes for sons and daughters away at war as well as in churches and businesses.

Boothbay Region Garden Club member Linda Redman is chair of the Garden Club Federation of Maine Blue Star Memorial Committee.