Before the Holiday Tree is Lit
Martin Nikirk is donating the yellow pine that he planted in his backyard 20 years ago to be Hagerstown’s City Park holiday tree.
Shortly after Martin Nikirk moved into his home on Chestnut Street in 2003 he received a 16-inch potted yellow pine tree as a housewarming gift from one of his parents. He planted the tree in his backyard and watched it grow.
When it got big enough, he and his friends would string holiday lights on it. Now the tree is tall as his two-story house, and its girth is encroaching on the back windows and siding.
“Since the pine tree is getting too large for the lot, and I enjoy the lighted holiday tree in the City Park lake each year, I decided to donate the tree to the city for thousands of people to enjoy,” Nikirk says.
He reached out to Erik Deike, director of public works, who sent a crew out to assess the tree. Turns out his tree looks just right for the city. So, this winter the yellow pine he nurtured for 20 years will be the centerpiece of the city’s annual holiday light display.
Chas Rittenhouse, dressed as Hagerstown’s iconic Little Heiskell, along with last year’s tree donor Joann Elizabeth King and her son, William King Jr., and Rachel Paul, planning and outreach coordinator for the Department of Community and Economic Development.
But selecting the feature tree isn’t always so easy for city officials. Donation requests have to be assessed by several departments, including the Hagerstown Light Department, the community engagement officer, and the Department of Community and Economic Development. Often, several residents reach out with potential trees and having more options always makes it easier.
Rachel Paul, planning and outreach coordinator for the Department of Community and Economic Development, says that has happened each of the last few years.
“Throughout the year, we will receive inquiries from homeowners about their tree,” Paul says. “Staff from the events, light, and community and economic development departments will visit the site and evaluate the tree.”
If officials do not receive any inquiries from residents for donations, the owners of Good Spirits Tree Farm have been gracious and stepped forward with tree donations.
“If we receive multiple donation requests, it creates less work for the staff,” Paul says. “It definitely helps when the options come to you. Our light department is awesome. Once the tree is identified, they work with the homeowner to schedule pick up and work out any concerns for extraction.”
Perhaps the most significant consideration is transportation. “We try to select a tree that will maintain its shape and fullness from pick-up to installation,” Paul says.
This year, transportation should be relatively easy as Nikirk lives only a half-mile from City Park. Sometime around the end of November the city will extract the tree and move it the short distance to the park.
In the last few years, the tree has been acquired through donation by different residents.
Last year’s tree was donated by Joann Elizabeth King, a long-time city resident who passed in May at the age of 90. She dedicated the tree to her late husband, William Dale King Sr., who served on the Hagerstown City Council from 1981 to 1985.
Among the people vital to the city in selecting the tree are Nathan Fridinger and Kevin Adelsberger of the light department, community engagement officer Brittany Arizmendi, and Paul.