Elmhurst Front Yard Tree Tradition - 2011

Posted by on
Every year, a number of folks around town participate in what I call the "Elmhurst Front Yard Christmas Tree Tradition" - where we put up small(ish) Christmas trees in our front yards and light them up to celebrate the season.  Above is a photo of our tree this year.  You'll note that most of the lights are off to the side (on the bottom left of the tree) - and that's because I was taking the tree down today and realized that I hadn't take a photo of the tree to post!  So, mid-disassemble, I grabbed this photo - to mark the annual tradition before I shipped it off to the curb.


I kept putting this off, thinking that I'll wait for snow to be on the ground to make it a bit more seasonal.  That snow never came.

The trees are $17 and are a fundraiser for the Elmhurst School District.  One of our neighbors organizes it ever year and distributes slips of paper to each of mailboxes that are basically order forms.  Then, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, all the trees get delivered to her house.  We all gather down there, sip on some hot chocolate, eat cookies and see our neighbors one last time before we all close up shop and get out of the cold for the winter!  It is a really nice tradition for our neighbors...and...I *think* my sister Vic had something to do with bringing it to our block.  I don't know the details, but Nat mentioned to me that we have Vic to thank for Indiana Street participating.  It seems that her 'old' block in her first home in Elmhurst participated, so she brought the tradition with her.  From what I've been told (not sure exactly from whom) that this tradition of decorating "front yard trees" in Elmhurst goes back decades.  Not every block participates, but there are some (like ours) that just about everybody has a tree.  South of our neighborhood - across the tracks - there's a block that does a really great job and gets a high level of participation.

There isn't a lot written on the web about these trees, so I always get some traffic (and comments) about them when they start to pop up each season - on past posts like this one from last year.

If you're new to town and/or your block doesn't participate, drop me a line/comment and I can introduce you to our neighbor who organizes it for us - I'm sure she'd be happy to get you/your block lined up with the school to get trees delivered!

BTW...the 2010 tree photo is way prettier - with all the snow.  But the 2009 tree was even better with a HUGE snow dump the night before I took the shot.

2010

2009

Comments

Post a Comment

Be nice to each other here.

Popular posts from this blog

Lou Malnati's Salad Dressing Recipe as Published in the 60's

Posted by on
Image
Earlier this winter, I wrote about the old Lou Malnati's menu and mentioned that as I was waiting around for my pie to finish up, I spied an old Chicago Tribune article posted on the wall that included the original Lou Malnati's Italian Salad Dressing Recipe.  The Tribune reporter called it "prized".  We were set to host a little pizza party over the weekend, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  Here's the article as seen through my mobile phone's camera. I'm not a wine drinker, so the fact that the recipe called for Burgundy wine didn't strike me as odd.  I went shopping at Angelo Caputos in Addison - a really incredible shopping experience - and when I got to the wine section I found Burgundy wine was carried ONLY in those HUGE jugs.  And they were dirt cheap.  The only issue is that needed just 4 ounces.  We ended up with a whole-lotta-wine that Nat won't drink. I've taken the recipe and modified it a bit by eliminating the percentage...
Read more

Tom Thayer's Italian Beef Recipe

Posted by on
Image
TOM’S TAILGATER ITALIAN BEEF COURTESY OF Steve Dahl  and  DAHL.COM Ingredients: One 3 ½ to 4 pound boneless beef chuck pot roast One package of Zesty Italian Salad Dressing and Recipe Mix One 16 oz. jar of hot giardiniera One 16 oz. jar of mild giardiniera One dozen baguettes (French rolls) Directions: In a four-quart Crock-Pot, pour in one bottle of giardiniera. Place the roast on top of the layer of giardiniera. Sprinkle the salad dressing mixture on top of the roast. Add the second bottle of giardiniera to the top of the roast. Cover Crock-Pot and cook on high for 6 to 8 hours. When fork tender, shred the roast in the Crock-Pot and allow it to combine with the other ingredients. Slice the baguettes in half and pile on the beef and giardiniera mixture. ------------------------------------ For the babe's baptism party, we hosted a collection of family and friends back at our house after the church proceedings. We ordered some of t...
Read more

Overwintering Disneyland Roses With Leaf Mulch - Floribunda Roses - December 2024

Posted by on
Image
Yesterday, I posted photos of how I'm attempting to overwinter some Dahlia tubers in the ground and in a couple of those pics, you might have peeked at the chicken wire cages next to the piles of mulch on the dahlia tubers.  Those chicken wire cages are full of fallen leaves and are set on top of the three Disneyland Rose crowns along the southside of our house. See below for a couple of photos showing how I set up the ring of chicken wire and filled it with mulched-up leaves: These roses struggled this year, so here's hoping this little bit of extra Winter protection is going to help them get through the cold.
Read more