Art is by Bev Jackson Cotter

Bev Jackson Cotter is a member of the Albert Lea Art Center where the Festival of Trees will continue through Dec. 29.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed looking at theme Christmas trees. And, ever since that time, I thought that someday my tree would evolve around a specific story, color or subject. It never happened, and it never will and I’m glad.

For the first time in my life, in December 2017, I purchased an artificial tree. It was a difficult decision, and I didn’t make it lightly. It happened because of convenience, ease of handling and my age. Without Michael to help with selection, to haul the real tree to his truck and into our home and to grumble about adjusting the bloomin’ thing in the tree stand, I felt that I finally had to succumb to a plastic tree, never again to enjoy the aroma of real pine in the living room. Then 2017 would be the year of the theme tree. It didn’t happen.

Once again, the old ornaments emerged from boxes and bags. The angel hair angel was carefully removed from its worn, 39 cent labeled box and placed atop the new tree. The celluloid, crumpled, red ornaments from my parents’ home were hung near the bottom. They were the forerunner to today’s plastics, and my mother knew that curious, small children could not break them. Then there were little disc pictures of my grandchildren with rick-rack around them, a sparkly, purple Santa from New Orleans, a chimney sweep from Germany, a beaded bell made by my son in Boy Scouts and a “to my parents” ball from my daughter. Some of the ornaments date back to when the Rudolph story was new and Gene Autry sang his special song.

How could we celebrate Christmas without all of those memories?

Recently I enjoyed listening to my granddaughter describe the decorations on her own tree.

There were crafted pictures of her children, ornaments made when she was young, a soldier reminder of her cousin’s tour of duty in Afghanistan — all sentimental items, memories of family and friends.

Theme trees? We can still enjoy them, and I do have to admit that over the years, I have decorated a few. Mostly they were in the Albert Lea Art Center.

For more than 30 years now, the Art Center has sponsored the Festival of Trees. It has become an Albert Lea Christmas tradition, and even though it has been in a couple different locations, it remains the same — a blending of community organizations and individuals who often spend months deciding on a theme and creating the ornaments for decorating their special tree.

This year’s festival setting, Christmas on Broadway, contains beautifully decorated trees with a host of elegant trimmings, trees with a nature theme, children’s folk art, a white snowman, even Noah’s Ark. A special feature this year is an unbelievable dollhouse made from plastic squares and knitted together to form room settings with patterned carpeting, wallpaper, furniture, a grandfather clock, and even a realistic faucet on the bathroom sink. Incredible!

This dollhouse was a work of love by Marcella Minear who spent almost two years making it for her granddaughter. We are honored to be able to display it for our visitors.

This year, creativity abounds at the Art Center. The decorations, the class paintings, the downtown festival children’s projects, the table centerpieces, even the view out the windows of the beautiful street swags and wreaths: everywhere you look, original creations bring joy.

But, I have to admit, Christmas for me is a time of treasured memories, of love of family and friends and of remembering its real meaning. How fortunate we are, that we can each find our own special reason to celebrate this beautiful season.

Merry Christmas, Everyone.