The Ashland Christmas Tree…
Let’s just get to the point on this one..
Half of it is missing. We see it.. It has a part in the front. Not even business in the back..
SKOOK NEWS posted a link about how Ashland is prepping for its old fashioned Christmas.. the comments on the page were fast and furious .. The Coal Region Canary added more to the mix with a story about the tree asking if it was the worst in America!
One comment on the Coal Region Canary post even mentioned how to correct the obsessively bald back end:
1. Spray paint the back green, might fool the eye into thinking its a full tree.
2. Cut the top off and throw the bottom away. 3. Find a smaller tree and tuck it to the rear, hiding that bald spot.
4. Speaking of the bald spot . . . Wrap the front branches around to the rear, call it a combover, or in this case a windswept Christmas tree.
Otherwise, I hate to say this, but I do not think there is any hope, other than a string of lights shorts out and puts the sad thing out of its misery.
Trees come and go…
Charlie Brown trees.. big trees… Half trees…?
History!
There are the … thens.. and nows…
We can find images of amazing Christmas feelings from the past..
There is modern day ASHLAND PA:
Lifeless downtown.. closed down storefronts..
But this was then!
Activity! Motion! The feeling of a downtown during the holiday season.. stores and people shopping in modern 1980s *then* America..
The vibe has a Stranger Things feel to it..
We lamented then that with all of the ‘progress’ of modern society, things then just seemed nicer, no?
In 2005, Ashland started its Old Time Christmas tradition in the hopes of re-establishing that feeling that we once had.
From reporting in the REPUBLICAN HERALD almost 15 years ago:
So many of those businesses–and a church!–are gone now..
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THE GRINCH STEALS CHRISTMAS!
Back in 2013, a survey conducted of the youth, or ‘yoot’, of this area stated that 55% of young people then intended on leaving it..
We wrote way back then,
1) The county will continue to perish slowly, like a miner running out of oxygen in a confined space.. It will keep its high unemployment, and is generation of disenchanted kids..
2) Many who leave the area for experience and knowledge, will actually come back to Schuylkill county at some point in their lives, and bring progress to the area. The future will feature people, people who don’t sport mullets and cutoff jean shorts, creating jobs and hope ..
Which possibility is more likely?
A stroll down any street, Schuylkill County, will show how difficult number 2 would be to achieve.
At Christmas, that seems apparent.
Towns still string up the lights like nothing is wrong. Like addiction isn’t destroying lives and families.. like jobs haven’t vanished. We still try–and really really try–having traditional holiday flare …
But the problems run deep.
Christmas is a time to reflect on a year that has been.. and a year that is on the way.
We can achieve a better society by working as one.. by unifying. By just getting some damn hope back again.
Until then, we will lament our place in time..
We will conjure up memories from the past and idolize them as better than our current circumstances.
IT COULD BE WORSE!
In the case of the Ashland PA Christmas tree, perhaps we can look to that tree as a good thing.. after all it could be worse!
On December 3, 1986, fierce winds that rolled through the area actually blew down the town Christmas tree. One hundred of the light globes got damaged as well.
So maybe that ole tree isn’t that bad.
After all, it still stands even after an ice storm!
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