Beyond Bubble Lights and Popsicle Stick Snowflakes
My sister, Beth, never takes the lights off her tree. Nor even does she disassemble it. For eleven months out of the year, the tree stands in a corner of the basement, draped against cobwebs and dust, awaiting its annual bedecking with carefully chosen and perfectly arranged ornaments, no two alike. Once complete, her tree graces her living room demurely.
Our tree, on the other hand, is not a graceful thing. Since we cling stubbornly to a tradition of “no tree until Christmas Eve,” we are inevitably stuck with whatever’s left on the lot, usually a forlorn Charlie Brown fir with a twisted trunk and a gaping hole that isn’t obvious until the warmth in our front room causes the branches to drop and settle. It is decorated by excited children made jittery and careless by anticipation and pilfered candy canes. So the bottom half of the tree features clusters of identical ornaments hung along a single bough and the top half holds every single glass ornament that mom was able to retrieve before they were sent tinkling to the floor. Once the decorating’s done, our industrious cats begin immediately to disassemble our ephemeral creation.
I love our little trees for their sentimental value, but I also admire Beth’s for their craftsmanship. In much the same way as I love Campbell’s Tomato Soup, but also admire a well-crafted bouillabaisse.
So every December, the kids and I take a break from stapling our construction-paper chains, we leave the glitter glue to dry on our cardboard cutouts, and we go out to admire the decorative achievements of fellow artists who’ve been blessed with greater patience and bigger budgets.
One of our favorite stops is the Cleveland Play House Festival of Trees. In past years, this spectacle of dozens of gorgeous trees has coincided with one of the Play House’s children’s productions, so we’ve been able to enjoy a full afternoon of theater and dawdling amongst the Tannenbaumen. That’s not the case this year, but here’s another good way to give greater depth to your excursion: the Play House is accepting wrapped gifts for the Salvation Army Angel Tree (call first to find out what’s still needed) or unwrapped, new toys to be donated to Toys for Tots. Keep your eyes open for two trees decorated by “Play House usher Phyllis Bambeck.” Could that be our Phyllis Bambeck, of the Kentucky Garden Bambecks? The Play House is located at 8500 Euclid Avenue, 216-795-7000. Admission and parking free until an hour before performances. Open now through 12/23, 9 AM-9 PM, 12/24 9 AM - noon. 12/23-12/2, 9 AM-5 PM. Closed 12/25 and 1/1.
Love the trees at the Play House but can’t imagine one in someone’s home? Then visit the main lobby of the Renaissance Hotel on Public Square before this Wednesday, 12/3. Each of the professionally-decorated trees on display there is destined for someone’s private parlor. On Tuesday evening, 12/2, from 6 - 9 PM, there will be a live auction of the trees to benefit Providence House crisis nursery in Ohio City. That event is free; a VIP reception including buffet, beverages and private seating area is $50 per person. Call 216-651-5982, ext. 226, for details.
I haven’t yet been able to accept that the lovely Cleveland Botanical Garden now charges a substantial admission charge ($25, including parking, for our family). The country’s oldest civic garden center managed to provide a free-of-charge oasis to beauty-deprived Clevelanders throughout the Great Depression and the Great Default. Alas, no more. But if I want to see really, really pretty trees this year, I will swallow my indignation and plunk down my money, because the Garden’s popular Wintershow returns this month through January 4. Designed by “aesthetic engineer” Don Vanderbrook, the show will feature a large model of the Connotton Valley Railroad that used to run through Bedford. On the other hand, we could also just join the crowd and take a sneaky peek for free during Holiday Circlefest on SUN 12/7 (see related article).