By BENNETT HALL
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Friday, November 30, 2007 12:00 am
PHILOMATH - The holidays are all about tradition, and this Coast Range town inaugurated a new one Thursday night with the lighting of a community Christmas tree.
The tree, a 30-foot noble fir, was installed on the front lawn of the Benton County Historical Museum last week to replace the 105-foot giant Sequoia at 19th and Main streets that had served as the town's holiday beacon for decades. The towering conifer was felled last March as work began on the Highway 20/34 couplet, a traffic management project that created deep divisions over issues of pedestrian safety and business access.
Some of those divisions seemed to be healing over Thursday as hundreds of local residents braved a frosty night to sip coffee and cocoa, listen to speeches and Christmas carols, and help throw the switch on a new tree and a new civic ritual.
The museum was decked out in garlands of greenery and strands of lights for the occasion, and a five-pointed star glowed on the belltower.
With the brightly illuminated building as a backdrop, Philomath Chamber of Commerce Vice President Jeff Lamb paid tribute to Dave Vincent, who had kept the old Sequoia lighted every year.
"He is a special person in this community's heart," Lamb said. "If you're here tonight, David, thank you for getting us going in the right direction."
As scores of singers recruited from local church choirs sang "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Oh, Come All Ye Faithful," longtime Philomath resident Don Gist stood in the crowd and looked with approval at the happy faces around him.
"This is very outstanding," said Gist, a Main Street business owner. "It's been a very divisive time with the couplet. It shows the heart of this community and the love of people that makes this community unique."
After Mayor Chris Nusbaum presented certificates of appreciation to the chamber and the Benton County Historical Society for organizing the ceremony, several members of the event planning committee led the crowd in a countdown as all eyes turned toward the tree.
With the flip of a switch, the evergreen blazed forth in a multicolored cloud of Christmas glory to a whoop of delight from the onlookers. The choir launched into "Joy to the World" and the bell began to toll in the museum tower.
It was a proud moment for Betty Williams and Eric Nittka, a pair of Philomath Public Works employees who snapped photos on their camera phones, grinning like little kids.
"It looks good. They did a real nice job," Nittka said.
"It's nice to see after this summer," when couplet construction snarled traffic and frayed tempers in town, Williams added. "It just brings the city back together."
Al and Dawnelle Davis brought their children to the lighting ceremony, and they picked their way across the museum's muddy lawn to get a closer look at the main attraction.
"The kids loved the old tree," Dawnelle Davis said. "Audrey actually cried when they cut the old one down."
"I like that it's really shiny," said Audrey's big brother, 7-year-old Jensen. "And I like the star."
Even little Audrey, the old tree's biggest fan, gave the replacement her stamp of approval.
"I love all of it," said the 4-year-old, throwing her gloved hands out wide.
But now that she'd seen it, Audrey told her parents, she was ready to go home.
"I'm frozen," she said. "I can't move!"
Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee. net.