ARLINGTON — Trimming a Christmas tree can be challenging no matter how small it is, but it becomes even more time-consuming when you need a bucket truck to string lights on its uppermost branches.
That’s why Arlington city workers set aside at least three days to decorate the towering tree in Legion Park, whose distribution of branches doesn’t necessarily oblige their efforts.
“We want to get everything to flow right, so there aren’t any big gaps in the lights,” Ray Drake said, as he and fellow senior maintenance worker Eric Hentila discussed how to wrap the multiple strings of lights around the tree. “You kind of have to adjust as you go regardless, because you’re not always going to have a limb where you need a limb.”
Visitors and residents alike will have the opportunity to enjoy those decoration efforts firsthand on Saturday, Dec. 6, when the city conducts its tree-lighting in Legion Park shortly after the Santa parade on Olympic Avenue at noon.
The job of decorating the Legion Park gazebo and depot takes less time than the tree, with less than a day required for each one.
But even with the tricks that Drake and Hentila have learned from nearly two decades of trimming Arlington’s Christmas tree for its annual Hometown Holidays, they still have to put some thought and effort into it.
“One thing we’ve figured out is to string the white lights in one direction and the red lights in the other,” Drake said. “Plus, with the new LED lights we got last year, we’re able to string up more lights without blowing the circuit-breaker.”
City Recreation Manager Sarah Lopez explained that Arlington chose the energy-saving LED strings after consulting with Leavenworth officials.
“The lights are also photosensitive, so they only come on after it gets dark,” Lopez said. “The LEDs don’t really show up as well during the day, so the tree-lighting in the middle of the day is more ceremonial than anything.”
Lopez recalled that the ceremony started more than 20 years ago in Centennial Park, before the tree they were using grew too large for the relatively narrow parcel of property. Slightly more than 10 years ago, the Outback Kangaroo Farm just west of Trafton donated the tree that the city planted at Legion Park and has used ever since.
The Downtown Arlington Business Association donated the bows and balls that serve as additional decorations for the tree, whose trimming commenced Dec. 1.
“Traditionally, we start decorating the city the day before Thanksgiving,” said Lopez, who credited city workers with rising at 4 a.m. to place 19 12-foot candles at Smokey Point, and Island Crossing, as well as 13 eight-foot candy canes and 35 three-foot snowflakes at Olympic Avenue.
Jay Downing, who’s in charge of the city’s maintenance and operations, reported that approximately 3,500 lights that have been strung up citywide, including about 2,000 LEDs on the tree alone, which have saved the city up to 80 percent in energy, compared with the old incandescent bulbs.
“Each and every decoration is meticulously placed, while braving all types of inclement weather, ensuring that every holiday season is as good or better than the last,” said Downing, who estimated that roughly 200 hours are spent annually on prepping and installing Christmas decorations from the start of November.
“Crews take their jobs very seriously, especially around the holidays,” he added. “A great deal of pride goes into decorating our city for holiday season.”
Arlington’s Hometown Holidays include not only the parade and tree-lighting, but also visits with Santa at the Depot in Legion Park from 1-3 p.m., as well as free wagon rides from 12:30-4:30 p.m. starting at City Hall, sponsored by DABA and drawn by Sugar and Spice, Mark Winterhalter’s draft horses.
While the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Hall hosts the Arlington Farmers’ Market’s handmade holiday gift sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cascade Valley Hospital will be conducting its Festival of Trees, with an open house for the public from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. followed by a gala and auction at 6:30 p.m.
