Maple tree decorated for holiday season
Ascrawny maple tree that narrowly escaped the axe is now one of the most popular Christmas attractions along a stretch of Richter Street.
Morgan and Kathryn Heaney are once again decorating the tree in their front yard at the corner of Richter and Birch Avenue with more than 350 red and gold ornaments.
Once it’s fully decorated and illuminated by floodlights, the tree catches the eye of many passing drivers and pedestrians.
“We’ve being doing this since 2007 and we’ve had so many people wave, honk and even put little thank-you notes in our mailbox,” Morgan said. “It’s a beautiful tree, and it just seems to make people smile.”
A decade ago, however, the tree wasn’t much to look at.
“I wanted to cut it down when we moved here, to be honest,” Kathryn says.
But like the previously unloved tree in the Charlie Brown Christmas story, the maple’s splendour was revealed with a bit of Christmas magic. It’s been featured on church calendars, and a professional photographer chose it for a popular series of Christmas cards.
Now the tree has grown to about nine metres, however, it’s becoming a challenge to decorate it properly. Even using a ladder and pole on Monday, Kathryn couldn’t quite reach the upper branches.
“We can’t put a star on top,” Kathryn said, adding with a laugh: “Maybe some kind person will lend us the use of their cherry picker.”