The city of Bellingham, for many years after WWII, competed with other municipalities to see who would have the largest downtown Christmas tree. I remember some of that excitement as a kid. It was the 1950's and there would be a huge city Christmas tree by the Whatcom County Museum or by what is now the bus terminal downtown or on Railroad Avenue and Chestnut Street. In 1948 and 1949, the city had a couple of the tallest trees ever. In 1949, Bellingham boasted that the tree was, in fact, the tallest in the world. It was 153 feet tall -- as tall as a 15-story building. I could not find a photo of that particular tree. But here is a historical photo of the tree from 1948, which was 134 feet tall. The tree looks a bit lanky, but I remember some of those brightly lit city sponsored trees. They looked wonderful in color. This tree in the photo below is not from Bellingham but it does, in my mind, capture some of the splendor of my childhood memories. This morning my adult daughter and I went out shopping. We went to the heart of downtown Bellingham to see what we could find as far as the city keeping this holiday tradition alive. We drove around quite a bit, in the core area, and I have posted below two photos of the the most colorful lights or decorations that we could find that were sponsored by the city this year. I guess that, sometimes, those grand holiday traditions from childhood only survive in one's memory. Thanks for stopping by, Steven L. Smith
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