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A tree hugger? We l l , not really
by Steve Sheppard
Stacey St. Peter is Santa's helper on Nantucket. I know this because I accompanied her around town two weeks ago as she inspected the newly placed Christmas trees for the upcoming holiday season. Stacey, you see, orders all the trees that grace the island's sidewalks and rotaries, and organizes who will decorate each one. She coordinates tree schedules with the Department of Public Works, and makes sure it all comes together - the placement, the lighting, the decorating - in time for this weekend's Christmas Stroll.

Put down the bag, Shep. All these trees really need is a little water, cold weather and TLC. St. Peter, left, agrees.

When it comes to Christmas, Stacey keeps more than a list, she has a map.

"I have a map of the downtown area. I know where all the trees are placed, which ones have colored lights and which ones have nearby power." Through her detailed planning, she knew to order 195 trees this year from Marine Lumber who, in turn, ordered the Balsam Firs from Vanasse Farm Products in Canada ("Christmas Trees since 1952.")

Islanders and visitors alike enjoy the trees, and so do I. They always seemed to appear out of nowhere, however, so this year I wanted to find out more about them. More than that, I wanted to help.

Finally, Sheppard gets to work as he cuts the twine off one of the trees. Anyone know how to get sap off your hands? Soap just doesn't do the trick. Email: shep@nantucketindependent.com.

I tracked down Dale Gary, who has been taking care of the town's trees for the DPW for 17 years. Dale oversees the placement of each tree, and I found him in front of the Pacific National Bank, digging a three-footdeep hole for the 20-foot tree that would be put in later that day. Dale knows his trees. When this year's crop arrived near the beginning of November, he had a large pit excavated, lined it with plastic and filled it with water. The trees drank all the water in one night. He was hoping the weather would turn cold so the trees would last. "They get shocked in the warm weather," he said.

The DPW has been putting up the Christmas trees for decades, as it was the Town of Nantucket that began the holiday tradition many, many years ago. During the energy crisis of the early '70s, however, the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce offered financial help to keep the trees lit. The chamber's role expanded over time, so that the DPW and chamber of commerce now have a Christmas tree partnership wherein the DPW pays for and is responsible for lighting the trees on Main Street (and down to the beginning of Straight Wharf) and the chamber lights and funds the trees on the side streets of town, and those out of town as

well, including the Rotary, Caton Circle and 'Sconset square. (To tell whose trees are whose, the DPW's feature colored lights, while the chamber festoons its trees with white lights.)

Stacey, the office administrator and event coordinator for the chamber of commerce, needed help cutting the twine from the side street trees, and that's where I came in. She handed me a pair of scissors - that was her first mistake - just kidding.

I cut and Stacey tagged each tree with the name of the people or group who would decorate them: the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, etc.

On Federal Street, we ran into Chief Sheila Lucey of the Brant Point Coast Guard. The Coast Guard always takes special pride in its decorations, and Chief Lucey checked with Stacey to see which tree it had. "We've got something special planned this year," she said.

As the twine was cut from each tree, and the boughs expanded with relief, the scent of fresh pine filled the air. I was getting into the spirit. On some trees, however, the needles fell like rain. "We'll have to replace that one," Stacey said, which is why she ordered more trees over the 183 that were placed around town. Last year, for instance, so many trees were dry they ran out of replacements. Although the cold weather and outside moisture are often enough, Stacey said she may look into some kind of watering system for the future.

By the time we circled back to Main Street, Dale and crew were hoisting the big tree at the Pacific National Bank into place. A little to the right . . . perfect.

It poured rain the next day, helping the trees, or so I hoped. The weather finally turned cold. And last Friday evening, when Stacey pulled the switch to light all the trees, the season had officially arrived once again.

The trees look especially good this year, don't you think?

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