Getting rid our our Christmas tree seems to be an annual annoyance, so you can imagine my excitement when driving home the other day and seeing a banner on the side of P&Gs for “Christmas Tree Bonfire in the Park”. Yesterday, on a not so wintery Saturday in January (at least snow is on the ground!) ND and I lashed a bungee cord around our tree, dragged it through town and over to Hasbrouck Park to join dozens of families and neighbors all united around setting our Christmas trees on fire. The Mayor, Jason West, spoke, reminding everyone that the Christmas tree bonfire was an old New Paltz tradition, and his hopes to make it even bigger and better next year, while a local bluegrass trio, Yardsale, played in the background and the fire department carefully tended the bonfire. Magical moments in a magical town.
Yardsale was playing in the dark. I was lucky to catch them lit up for just a moment when a huge dry tree got thrown on the fire.
thank you for the fine photos of this event…a great tradition…