’tis the season. The holiday season is upon us. Although it won’t be quite like it has in the past. Many towns have canceled their usual events, such as Santa’s arrival, parades and tree lighting ceremonies.
And some towns have some unusual trees for the season. Here are few along with photos. (Unless noted, photos are from this year.
There is a stretch of Rt 20 in Kent County, MD between Chestertown and Rock Hall, near Chesapeake Farms, that the locals call Double Woods. For many years this area mysteriously is decorated. How long? From what I heard at least a dozen years. It first came to may attention around 2012/13. At times it’s just a some tinsel rope and a few Christmas balls hung on some of the bushes. Someone went to extremes in 2015 when this photograph was taken to create this wonderful view. Decorating has already begun, but I haven’t had a chance to get photos from there, yet.
Cambridge first built their Crab Basket Tree in 2014. There are about 200 baskets in the tree. The tree is located at the corner of Race and Gay Streets. This year was the first time I was able to see and photograph the tree after dark. An amazing sight for certain.
In 2016 the town of Rock Hall followed in the foot steps Cambridge and created their own Basket Tree. Although with a slight twist. They painted the baskets as a way to honor the heritage of the town and in memory of the the town’s residents. It began as one tree and has grown. This year there are three.
The Queen Anne Waterman’s Association followed the example of Rock Hall and put up their own decorated Crab Basket Tree this year. The tree is only a short distance from the Waterman’s Memorial. Unfortunately not close enough to get a good photo of both as you can see in this photo, the basket tree is part of the background far in the distance.
Chesapeake City has a history of lighting up their town. I have only seen the lights from the highway. I have seen this Crab Pot tree at the inlet docks. But only in the day light.
Chestertown’s tradition is to have Santa Arrive on a fire truck on the evening they light the lights in Fountain Park the day after Thanksgiving. For the past couple of years they have turned the fountain into a tree with the water goddess Hebe as the tree top. This photo was from 2018, the first year they did it. The town decided not to do it this year. Hopefully this tradition will continue
Are there other places that have this sort of non-traditional tree? Maybe they should be term Traditional trees since they are part of the the town’s history. I am sure that there are, I just haven’t had the pleasure of seeing and photographing them. I may go exploring this Holiday Season to discover a few more.
The month has just begun and I my goal this month is to capture all of these in daylight and in the evening and to
If your town on MD Eastern Shore, or anywhere on Delmarva, has a non-traditional Holiday Decoration, I’d love to know. Please send me an email at Photos@ShoreToBeFun.com
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Editor’s Note:
This was first published by me on my Photography Web site ShoreToBeFunPhotography.com as one of the ‘Points of Interest on Delmarva’ posts. Beginning on January 1, 2021, each Friday the ChesaDel Crier will be publishing my photo-essays here.
