The Town Crier: Trail of trees

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, December 21, 2024

In first grade I had to have some minor surgery on my foot and so spent a night or two in the hospital. This was back when it was just a hospital and not a “medical center.”

So as not to miss any school, the procedure was scheduled for the Christmas school break. My room was on the third floor and looked down on the hospital entrance. There was a cover to the entrance for when you pulled up to let people out, and for the Christmas season, Hamilton had put a big Christmas tree on it.

My room looked out over the top of it and at night the colored lights even lit up my room. This is the earliest memory I have of a “public” Christmas tree, as well as perhaps my only memory of looking down on the top of a Christmas tree. Since then I’ve had a special place in my holiday heart for these public displays of the season. This year Ye Merry Olde Town Crier took a nighttime tour of some of the Christmas trees that are out there in our community. Since the custom has become to leave the decorations up to at least New Year’s Day, this might even make a nice trip out one evening after the presents are all opened and the leftovers are gone, but it’s not quite time to pop the cork at midnight. It’s always nice to get out of the house a little bit.

Lots of trains

In Tunnel Hill you’ll need to turn off the Highway 41 drag and get to the “old” part of town down by the pre-Civil War era depot. On the streets there you’ll spot the neighborhoods with decorations on the telephone poles lighting up the winter night. There are wreaths of lights with holiday-associated items in the middle, including Christmas trees, stars, angels, Santas and reindeer, and for Tunnel Hill, home of the historic train tunnel, there are trains, lots of trains.

As you turn the corner and head toward the station you’ll see a big tree all lit up where crates of who-knows-what used to be unloaded. The tree is covered with tiny white lights that look like the stars at night or perhaps even a light snow falling. Then, spaced about it are giant five-point stars outlined in lights. And on top, another star to crown the tree as you look up at it, the night sky making a contrasting background for it. I’m thinking the railroad engineers that go by there dozens of times a day and night get a warm smile on their face as they pass it, horn blowing and engine chugging. Hmm, I bet there’s a Christmas song in there somewhere.

Multiplying the joy

Driving east to Varnell, we come to what may be the smallest public Christmas tree in the smallest city in Whitfield County, but one that has its own unique contribution. It’s located in the courtyard area of the restored Varnell House, built in 1847. The tree is about as tall as a 12-foot ladder (maybe Varnell only has a 12-foot ladder and so a tree any taller and they wouldn’t be able to get the star on top).

Ah, but what makes this tree unique amongst the others? This is the only public tree that has presents under it. Sure, they are only brightly colored outlines of light, but the red “boxes” with green “ribbon” make their point: Somebody is going to have a great Christmas morning, getting just what they wished for. And I’m sure the folks in Varnell hope it’s you.

Off the beaten path

Heading toward Tennessee and getting as close to the North Pole as we’re going to get on this outing, we make our way to Cohutta. With Cleveland Highway being the main route now, Cohutta is a little off the beaten path.

On Cleveland Highway at the turn you need to take, they have put up a brightly lit sleigh pulled by reindeer to show you the way. Of course, Cohutta used to be right on the beaten path in the old days, when the beaten path was the railroad.

As you come to the town from the winding, country road that leads there, you will spot the giant snowflakes on the telephone poles lighting up the way.

Driving past the handful of buildings that make up this once and future busy city, you will come to a city park. In the park is the town’s tree, with a combination of white and colored lights zig-zagging their way around the tree. Red ribbons accent the evergreen of the cedar branches. The park is surrounded by strings of light, and over to one side there is a manger to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.

This tree is also, fittingly for the town that was born from the railroad, next to the tracks, where on Christmas Eve some lonely engineer away from his family will be able to catch a glimpse of bright cheer as he passes. As a footnote, if you’re a fan of the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas” that mixes Halloween and Christmas together, you can drive just over the tracks and look to your right at the house that has left up their Halloween skeleton decorations and spiffed them up with Santa hats and candy canes for the Yuletide.

A roll of carpet in Christmas lights?

Now, let’s head back down to Dalton (apologies to friends in Westside … I didn’t make it out there this year … it got foggy and I didn’t have a red-nosed reindeer to guide me). One of the newer places to get a Christmas tree is Burr Park. As a sort of centerpiece to the community these days, it’s a great place for a big, bright tree. The Burr Park tree is covered with multicolored lights and an animated star on top. It’s a big tree and it’s set close to the street so you get a good sense of how large it is. I’m not sure there’s a show planned, but they left room in case they needed the stage. Who knows, maybe the Radio City Rockettes bus will break down on Christmas Eve and they’ll put on a show while waiting for repairs.

Driving down the streets, you’ll see them glowing under the light of the decorations on the streetlights. For Dalton, there are wreaths, bells and snowflakes. I think Dalton could do with a train or two as well. I’m not exactly sure how to represent a roll of carpet in Christmas lights, but those rolls have certainly contributed to lots of Merry Christmases around here.

A great show

Once we get to the courthouse you’ll see another Christmas tree brightening the night. It’s billed as a 21-foot-tall Norway spruce. As soon as I find out how they got it here from Norway, I’ll let you know.

This tree is across the street from the courthouse and so allows you to literally drive between the tree and the decorations on the courthouse lawn. The tree is covered with colored lights that shimmer. The big, bright star on top is one of those that I describe as having a tail, with the bottom point longer than all the others. It gives the illusion of the star on its way into the night sky.

Then, on the other side of the street, on the courthouse and its lawn, there are new decorations thanks to Robert Webb who you may be familiar with because of the sculpture garden at the Creative Arts Guild. There are giant, lit wreaths on the sides of the building. Their great size makes quite the impression on the side of the large building. And on the lawn is a collection of King Kong-sized ornaments that made me go “Wow!” when I first saw them. Shiny like mirrors, the big, red ornaments have snowflakes projected on them at night. The whole effect of the tree on one side of the street and the giant decorations on the other side makes for a great show.

Christmas glory

Now, to finish up back at the hospital, they have many of the buildings on their campus lined with lights, and the Peeples Cancer Institute has eaves with snowflake lights on them. Many of the trees are wrapped in white lights, but their actual Christmas tree you may have to keep an eye out for. The top of it can be seen from the entrance doors, but to get the full view you’ll need to drive down to the lower roundabout. There the tree can be seen in all its Christmas glory.

With strings of lights cascading down its sides, it also has large starlight ornaments and also smaller ornaments that change as you watch. The star on top is animated and looks like a firework going off in the sky. Maybe fireworks are a good idea to celebrate Christmas as well as the Fourth of July and New Year’s. And up on the hill, the Anna Shaw Children’s Institute has a Christmas tree of its own for the kids that go there.

This holiday season, if you’re looking for something to do at night and you’ve already seen all the movies, try the Christmas trees!

Mark Hannah, a Dalton native, works in video and film production.