For some, a Christmas tree means time with family, humming along to “Deck the Halls” and threading lights through the branches. For others, it means tearing into red and green wrapping paper in search of shiny new trinkets on Christmas morning.
Standing more than 30 feet tall at the foot of the iconic Memorial Tower, the University’s Christmas tree means tradition and community.
Wednesday night’s Holiday Spectacular marked the 18th annual tree lighting, but no other tree since the first ceremony in 1995 has been quite as much of a hometown effort as this one. From farm to transport to decorations, this year’s tree has passed only through local hands.
Michelle Lowery, associate director of special events for Campus Life and self-proclaimed campus elf, ordered the first ornaments in February and has spent the entire year gathering resources from all over campus and the state to bring the tree to life.
The greatest test of Lowery’s planning came earlier this month when Lowery and Fred Fellner, associate director of landscape services for Campus Life, visited a local farm to personally choose the tree.
“You definitely sense that you’re on a mission, and that it is a part of the fabric of the University and that you’re representing LSU,” Fellner said. “It’s all part of that mystique, the aura of what we are and what we do. It’s a big deal.”
Though past trees came delivered cross-country from the Pacific Northwest, the University has selected its last five trees from family-run Windy Hills Farm in Ethel, La., about an hour outside of Baton Rouge.
Lisa Peairs, co-owner of Windy Hills, said choosing the tree is a big moment for both the University and the farm.
“It’s a good thing to have a Louisiana Christmas tree at a flagship university for the state like LSU,” Peairs said. “We’re extremely proud of it.”
Almost old enough to attend the University itself, this year’s tree grew under constant care from the Peairs family for about 15 years. Because Murray Cypress trees naturally grow in a round shape, growers must prune the branches by hand as the tree grows to create the traditional Christmas tree shape.
“We picked it because it was the biggest one they had. We saw it and we knew that was it,” Lowery said. Peairs confirmed that the tree hits the maximum height a Christmas tree can possibly grow in Louisiana’s conditions.
But choosing a tree was only the beginning. Lowery and Fellner turned to the University community for help transporting the tree from the farm to its new home at Memorial Tower.
In true holiday spirit, volunteers from the LSU Fire and Emergency Training Institute strapped the tree to one of their own trailers and LSU Police Department escorted them from the Mississippi River Bridge to the heart of campus Monday morning, all at no cost. From there, workers from facility services put up the tree and reinforced the inner structure with steel rods.
“It’s not just holiday spirit, it’s LSU spirit,” Lowery said. “The tree is purple and gold for a reason. We’re bringing people together.”
With Billy Heroman’s Florist stringing up the garland and Community Coffee brewing free hot chocolate for the lighting ceremony, a bit of Baton Rouge hangs on every bough.
Even in 75 degree weather, when the cheerleaders’ countdown ended and the tree twinkled to life, a thrill of Christmas spirit swept through the crowd at the foot of the clock tower. Once again, those stately oaks have welcomed family for the holidays.