Portions of this story appeared on www.pigeon605.com and are reused with permission.

The blue spruce that once stood in front of First UMC in Sioux Falls, S.D. Photos by Wes Eisenhauer, Kickturn Studio.

The blue spruce that for decades soared 50 feet skyward, just feet away from the front door of First United Methodist Church of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, should never really have been there at all.

Flat prairie is the wrong environment for a tree that likes the mountains, and as a residential neighborhood turned to parking lots and concrete, an adequate water supply became an issue. The soil was also poor.

Still, the tree flourished, even as the house that once stood next to it was removed, giving passersby a clear view of First United Methodist Church, home to one of the city’s oldest congregations.

And a little more than 30 years ago, the tree became a much-anticipated symbol of Christmas, when a Sioux Falls man granted his wife’s wish to have the tree decorated with lights. Over the years, it became known as Dorothy’s Tree. And with the deaths of Dorothy Weir, then her husband, First United Methodist congregation “adopted” the tree, gathering annually the Sunday after Thanksgiving to sing carols as the tree was lighted.

So, when it became obvious that the tree’s strength was waning and its branches growing sparse, there was little doubt that the congregation would come up with an alternative.

On Sunday, Nov. 26, the alternative was unveiled to the congregation and community members, who donned parkas and stocking caps or draped blankets over their shoulders to count down from 10 and watch what now will be known as Dorothy’s Tree of Hope glow with 38,100 lights. The artificial tree, set up just a few days earlier, will remain lit throughout the Christmas season this year and for decades to come.

“There was never a question that we would do something” to make sure the well-known holiday tradition continued, said Ben Lamp, chairman of First United Methodist’s board of trustees. “But an arborist told us he didn’t think another live tree could live there. So, it came down to we had to replace it with something else.”

The Rev. Sara Nelson, senior pastor at First United Methodist, leads a Celebration of Life for the tree.

First, however, it was important to give the congregation and community the chance to bid farewell to a tree that had meant so much to so many. The Rev. Sara Nelson, First United Methodist’s senior pastor, arranged a Celebration of Life for the tree. It took place Nov. 12. In front of about 50 people, Nelson led the service, which included reading a Mary Oliver poem, “When I am Among the Trees.

“And they call again, ‘It’s simple’ they say, /’and you too have come/into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled/with light, and to shine.’”

“It’s bittersweet,” Nelson said of the decision to remove the tree. “It’s meant a lot to people within the church and to people within the community for a very long time. It was a thoughtful process of trying to figure out the tradition in a way to honor Dale and Dorothy Weir.”

The Weirs were the couple who first arranged for the landmark tree to be decorated for Christmas. The oft-told story says they were passing by the tree in the early 1990s when Dale asked his wife what she wanted for Christmas. She responded, “That tree … only with lights and decorations, to celebrate the magic of the holiday season.”

Dale Weir followed through on his wife’s vision. The couple viewed lighting the tree every Christmas as a way to give back to the community they loved, Nelson said.

After Dorothy’s Weir’s death in 2003, Dale Weir continued the tradition of decorating and lighting the lofty tree. Before he died in 2010, he established a fund with the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation. The money he placed there ensured the tree would continue to be lit at Christmas. First United Methodist has continued to coordinate the tree lighting. The church now owns the property on which the tree stands; a parking lot extends its physical presence to Minnesota Avenue.

First United Methodist started a tradition of celebrating the first night of the lighted Christmas tree with a service of prayer and carol singing, followed by hot chocolate and cookies. Lifelong church member Carmen Graber has never missed a lighting ceremony and often has been joined by the older and younger generations of her family.

“We would do the lighting ceremony, no matter how cold it was and there have been some really cold times,” Graber said.

When she first learned that the tree was going to come down, Graber deliberately drove past it to examine it closely. What she saw saddened her.

“I thought, this tree looks so sad and lonely. I didn’t doubt it when they were saying it needed to be down, this needs to be done, it needs to be put to rest,” Graber said. “It made me sad; it made me very sad. The positive part of it was I knew we were going to replace it.”

The congregation had known for several years that something needed to be done—and soon, Lamp said.

“Within the last couple of years, it got really bad,” he said. “There were not enough branches to hook lights on, so we put rebar on the tree so we could hang the lights on those. We probably could have limped through one more year, but you never know, and the good Lord said everything would work out.”

Lamp went online to find a replacement artificial tree. A 40-foot tree was chosen and installed shortly after the living tree was cut down, leaving six six-foot sections behind. Lamp used a phone app to determine the tree’s age. By counting the rings, the app placed the tree’s age at 106 years old. That places its planting about 1917; First United Methodist’s cornerstone of the current building dates its construction to 1913.

Most people understood why the tree had to come down and why it couldn’t be replaced with a live pine, Lamp said.

“They are exuberantly happy— ‘Wow, we’re glad we’re going to continue with the Tree of Hope,’” Lamp said. “People just love it that we’re going to do something.”

The tree now has a slightly longer name. Dorothy’s Tree from now on will be known as Dorothy’s Tree of Hope, Nelson said. That’s because it serves “as a beacon of hope to the community,” she said. First United Methodist is in downtown Sioux Falls; its vision statement says it strives “to be a sanctuary of Christian hope, love, and encouragement in the heart” of the state’s largest city.

To Jane Healy, who joined First United Methodist in 2008 after returning to Sioux Falls from Colorado, the addition of the words “of Hope” is deserved. She attended the tree-lighting Sunday.

“Just as a person driving down Minnesota Avenue on a cold winter night, it was just something that always lifted my spirits,” Healy said. “It’s like a beacon of hope when it’s all dark and you could be feeling kind of down.”

Sunday’s tree-lighting included a dedicatory prayer by the church’s associate pastor, the Rev. Jordan Louks, and the singing of five Christmas carols, starting with “Joy to the World” and ending with “Silent Night.” Music director Kiley Coyne led the a cappella songs.

People gathered to light the new tree with 34,100 lights.

People gathered near the tree in 25-degree weather or watched from inside their cars. Battery-operated candles were distributed to those in attendance.

One child rode up on a scooter; a couple brought their dog to watch as the tree lit up with miniature red, green, blue and gold lights. The church had a cement pedestal pad poured so the tree becomes even more prominent along the busy city street. A five-foot “blazing star” has been ordered and will be placed on the tree’s peak when it arrives, Lamp said.

The tree should spark within those who see it a desire to spread hope, love and encouragement to everyone they meet, Louks said, echoing the church’s vision statement.

“Light always breaks through the darkness” reminding people of God’s love, Nelson said as the brief ceremony concluded.

While the original tree is gone, it will continue to serve a purpose. The trunk sections will be dried, and a resident of nearby Lennox, South Dakota, will cut it into planks. Lamp’s fear that the interior of the trunk would have started to rot and be unusable was unfounded.

“Maybe we’ll make a couple of benches out of it,” Lamp said. “Or crosses that we can give to people.”

Only days after its installation, the artificial tree already has become part of the neighborhood. Some church members said they have seen an owl perched on its branches.

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