Christmas Tree

The Montrose Shopping Park Assn. should hang their heads in shame for the sad excuse for a Christmas tree at the corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue. This so-called tree was viewed by all who attended the parade on Saturday and thousands of TV viewers. It resembled a dunce cap with stars. I would call it a wizard cap, but no wizard would claim it. Hopefully, next year, they will able to provide a tree that resembles a Christmas tree rather than a dunce cap with stars!

In response to the letter from Mary Martin (“Montrose Christmas tree is shameful,” Dec. 12), I also don't especially like this tree, but not knowing where it came from, who chose this tree or how much it cost, I am happy to put up with it. Our great little town of Montrose has the Christmas parade, trolley rides, Christmas bands and, of course, Santa Claus. Perhaps after budgeting for all of these wonderful things, that was the only affordable tree. In these tough economic times, we should be happy we even have a Christmas tree!

It?s time once again to select that special piece of forestry to augment the holiday atmosphere in your home. The YMCA?s annual Christmas tree lot opens today with a wide selection of greenery to herald the magic of the holidays and also help area youth finance a learning adventure. The Crescenta-Cañada YMCA works together with the Verdugo Hills YMCA on the annual fund-raiser. Each year, about 130 YMCA kids involved in Youth in Government and Model United Nations help to sell trees at the lot to finance the teens?

The 65-foot Sierra white fir destined for the White House as the nation's official Christmas tree will first make a stop at the Autry National Center near Griffith Park, organizers announced this week. The stop will be one of many for the white fir -- scheduled to be cut down Saturday in the remote Stanislaus National Forest in Central California -- on its trek to the White House. Before the tree heads east, organizers will take it on a 20-day tour of 12 cities in California. It is just the fourth time the state has provided the "The People's Tree" since the tradition was started in 1964, according to the announcement from U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Coordinator Maria Benech.

Robert Shaffer GLENDALE -- Just in time for Y2K is the great Christmas tree famine of 1999. "After this weekend, they'll be hard to find," said Michael Russo, a summer camp counselor who was selling his last shipment of trees Tuesday for the YMCA on a lot on South Brand Boulevard. Home Depot received its final shipment of 600 Christmas trees Wednesday morning, and had sold 100 by Wednesday afternoon. "Get one as soon as you possibly can," advised Enrique Garcia, a manager at the store.

Tim Willert GLENDALE -- As much of a holiday tradition as buying a Christmas tree is disposing of it once the packages are unwrapped and the lights are boxed up. City workers will once again recycle Christmas trees through Jan. 15 by collecting them from residential and business curbsides. All those who live in single-family residences have to do is place their trees next to their trash cans on their regular pickup day. But businesses and multifamily residences, such as apartments, should call the Integrated Waste Management section at 548-3916 for curbside collection times and days, and have their trees by the curb by 7 a.m. the day of pickup.

Judy Seckler GLENDALE -- Serious Christmas tree aficionados relaxed and took in the pine-scented air with relish. "It smells great in here," shopper Melanie Escher, 41, said of the YMCA's Harvey Drive and Ventura (134) Freeway location. With her two sons, Evan Spires, 6, and Liam Spires, 4, the day was a big adventure. Escher had her eye on an affordable Christmas tree under $40 that looked good. Glendale YMCA Director of Financial Development Craig Yaussi said the YMCA has been selling trees for almost 45 years.

GLENDALE — Christmas trees dragged to curbs for trash pickup are attracting arsonists, fire officials said. On Gardena Avenue in southwest Glendale on Monday, a 34-year-old man stepped out of his front door to find his discarded Christmas tree in flames, according to a police report. Police arrived shortly after the man put the fire out with a garden hose and found no evidence of who was responsible for igniting the tree. The homeowner did not see any people or vehicles fleeing, police said.

Amber Willard TROPICO -- Defective lights on a Christmas tree started a fire that caused $15,000 in damage to an apartment. Residents of the apartment in the 200 block of West Palmer Avenue told Glendale Fire officials they heard a popping sound Monday and the tree, its needles dry, practically exploded. "It was gone in seconds," Fire Marshal Steve Howard said of the tree. He reminded residents that after Christmas trees run out of water, they won't absorb water added later.

The Verdugo Hills Sunshine Society was formed in the early 1930s with the goal of operating a home-like boarding home for elderly people of culture and refinement. Charter members James and Effie Fifield helped form the society with the specific intention of donating their home, named Twelve Oaks Lodge, to the group. The Fifields, from Minneapolis, wintered in what was then called Verdugo City for many years. When James Fifield died in 1933, Effie Fifield took over his publishing business.

A blaze that erupted in home Wednesday night on Screenland Drive after a dry Christmas tree caught fire caused $125,000 in damage, but no injuries were reported. The fire destroyed the home's living room before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze shortly after 6 p.m. in the 2000 block of Screenland Drive. Burbank animal control officers were called in to care for two dogs that were found hiding in a nearby room. The homeowners were apparently away at the time the fire started.

When the freak windstorm was knocking down power lines and toppling giant trees on roofs and cars, Scotty Sorensen was pounding 42-inch stakes into the ground with a sledgehammer to keep the 95-mph gusts from blowing away the tents at his Christmas tree lot in Pasadena. It was an exercise in futility as the raging winds bent the aluminum poles holding up the tents. It was the same at his lot in South Pasadena where the giant tent - Big Red - was in danger of blowing away and damaging someone else's property.

It's been a disaster since the Lawrence family moved to Glendale almost three months ago. First a hospital visit brought a hefty medical bill, then sentimental Christmas decorations were destroyed, and two weeks ago someone stole the $800 car the family bought with the last of their savings. It had two car seats in the back. “Right now is the worst possible time,” said Shannon Lawrence, who moved with her husband and two daughters from Charlottesville, Va., at the end of October.

In response to the letter from Mary Martin (“Montrose Christmas tree is shameful,” Dec. 12), I also don't especially like this tree, but not knowing where it came from, who chose this tree or how much it cost, I am happy to put up with it. Our great little town of Montrose has the Christmas parade, trolley rides, Christmas bands and, of course, Santa Claus. Perhaps after budgeting for all of these wonderful things, that was the only affordable tree. In these tough economic times, we should be happy we even have a Christmas tree!

The spirit of Christmas past and present is alive and well on a modest, middle-class block in Burbank, where nearly everybody lights up their front yards with fantastic displays that would warm the cold, cold heart of the meanest Scrooge. This Christmas Street isn't just strings of lights amid Santa Claus figures, sugarplum fairies and nativity scenes. There are animated displays, like a merry-go-round that turns, and trains that chug along, a Ferris wheel that seems to be rotating, thanks to flashing digital lights, a pop-up Santa jack-in-the-box and a 25-foot-tall Christmas tree made of wires and LED lights that glow in the night.

The Glendale News-Press should know better. This is the Christmas season, not the “holiday” season, as our Christian country celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ on Dec. 25. In the Dec. 7 edition of the News-Press, an article and photos on “Dunsmore Elementary students sing holiday classics” made six mentions of “holiday” and not one reference to Christmas. There is something wrong when Glendale's only newspaper avoids using the word “Christmas.” The writer of the story referred to the school event “as part of the annual celebration.” What annual celebration?

The Montrose Shopping Park Assn. should hang their heads in shame for the sad excuse for a Christmas tree at the corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue. This so-called tree was viewed by all who attended the parade on Saturday and thousands of TV viewers. It resembled a dunce cap with stars. I would call it a wizard cap, but no wizard would claim it. Hopefully, next year, they will able to provide a tree that resembles a Christmas tree rather than a dunce cap with stars!

The 65-foot Sierra white fir destined for the White House as the nation's official Christmas tree will first make a stop at the Autry National Center near Griffith Park, organizers announced this week. The stop will be one of many for the white fir -- scheduled to be cut down Saturday in the remote Stanislaus National Forest in Central California -- on its trek to the White House. Before the tree heads east, organizers will take it on a 20-day tour of 12 cities in California. It is just the fourth time the state has provided the "The People's Tree" since the tradition was started in 1964, according to the announcement from U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Coordinator Maria Benech.

Even before Halloween, Christmas spirit lumbered into the Americana at Brand Friday morning in the form of a 100-foot-tall white fir. The tree, shipped in from Mt. Shasta, arrived at 6 a.m. on a flatbed truck and was hoisted by crane onto the outdoor mall's green. In the coming weeks, crews will cover the Christmas tree with 10,000 lights and 15,000 ornaments in time for its official debut ceremony Nov. 17. -- Jason Wells, Times Community News Twitter: @JasonBretWells Photo: A crane hoists a 100-foot-tall white fir tree at the Americana at Brand on Friday, Oct. 28. Credit: Raul Roa / Times Community News