USU students provide Christmas cheer to Cache Valley families

TREES GALORE: The TSC lounge has trees on display decorated by a variety of USU groups. / Photo by Jacob Roskelley

By Jacob Roskelley

December 10, 2007 | Students walking through the Taggart Student Center at Utah State University recently may have noticed an added boost of holiday cheer.

The Associated Students of USU traditions committee held their annual Christmas Tree Lane activity in the International Lounge of the TSC. Decorated Christmas trees were on display Dec. 3-7.

According to Staci Meacham, ASUSU traditions director, various campus clubs and organizations were asked to purchase and decorate artificial trees for the event. This year about 30 different clubs and organizations participated. The trees are on display for a week and are subsequently donated to low income families in Cache Valley.

"I like Christmas Tree Lane because so many times we do service projects for people all over the country and the world," Meacham said. "This is completely local. A club may be decorating a tree that will be given to a family living down the street."

The trees are donated through two Cache Valley organizations: Bear River Head Start and the Centro de la Familia .

According to Meacham, advocates come and pick up the trees for the families in order to allow the families to remain anonymous.

Keri Mecham, associate director of Student Involvement and Leadership at USU, has worked closely with Christmas Tree Lane over the past six years.

"This is a great opportunity for clubs and organizations to give back to the community," Mecham said.

According to Mecham, ASUSU has recently started requesting that the trees be artificial so the families can use them from year to year.

Crystal Degen, a junior in public relations at USU, is a member of the ASUSU Traditions committee and has been heavily involved with Christmas Tree Lane.

"I've really enjoyed working with the different clubs and organizations," Degen said. "They were all so excited to hear where the trees were going and I think they really enjoyed decorating the trees as a service project."

Degen was also heavily involved with the other activities held during the week including a tree lighting ceremony.

"My favorite thing is to see the individual clubs decorate their tree to fit the theme of their club," Degen said. "For example, the storytelling club decorated their tree with children's books for the family to read."

Christmas trees have become an enduring Christmas tradition, but it wasn't always so.

According to History.com , Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it. It was in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree.

"Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles."

Around the 1890s, Christmas ornaments began arriving from Germany. In the early 20th century Americans were decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments. Popcorn was dyed bright colors and strung around the tree with berries and nuts. The spread of homes with electricity led to Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end.

Today millions of tourists travel to New York City to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree .

Millions of Christmas trees are decorated all over the world every December in anticipation of the holiday. Meacham says she is grateful to the USU students who are willing to provide that little bit of cheer to Cache Valley families in need.

"It adds to Christmas and the feeling of the season," Meacham said. "It's great knowing that you made an impact in a community that you come from, invest in and that's important to you."

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