This is my second entry into the December Active Rain Challenge on Acts of Kindness sponsored by Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist, and Dr. Paula McDonald
The Christmas Bush Brought Decades of Cheer to Travelers
We bought our Sedona home in 2003 and for many years we would travel from Southern California up Interstate 17 to Sedona for every holiday including Christmas. When we moved to Sedona full-time we would travel to Phoenix to shop and enjoy the start of the Christmas season.
The first time we saw this juniper bush/tree decorated we were surprised and delighted. I didn't know the history and that this tree had been mysteriously decorated since 1988.
This tree is located just below Sunset Point as you are heading north on the Interstate where the speed limit is 75 mph. It is very dangerous to pull off the road, let alone decorate this tree. Rick and I often wondered who decorated it. We figured it had to be ADOT. They were the only ones who could pull this feat off safely in the dead of night. But we were wrong...
Christmas Bush Saved From Fire in 2019... However
Saved in 2019 by Daisy Mountain Fire Department (courtesy of AZ Central)
There has been at least 3 encounters with brush fire. Once in 2011 and again in 2019 and one more time, see below...
I do remember a brush fire in 2021 but I cannot document it through research. This time the tree was burned well. It was not decorated during 2020 because of COVID. We missed seeing it in 2021 and 2022 because it has not been decorated since. However, we went really looked for it this year on our annual Christmas shopping trek to Scottsdale. The pic above is what it looked like with about 15 decorations. If you blink, you will miss the tree.
Mystery Solved!
Hundreds of thousands of travelers have driven past this famous tree over the decades. It became more famous when the Arizona official state balladeer, Dolan Ellis wrote a song about it in 2019. By then it had been decorated over 30 years straight. The person who started this back in 1988 finally came forward to reveal how the tradition got started.
Nancy Loftis of Phoenix came forward in 2021 when her family felt the fire left the tree too unstable to decorate. They would go up the Sunday before Thanksgiving and decorate the tree. It would take 3 hours for a group to decorate it and they kept quiet all these years.
Secret Act of Kindness
Nancy and her family didn't want recognition for doing this. It was meant to bring some cheer and Christmas spirit into the hearts of the children and other travelers along this stretch of the highway. She noticed that by the time the kids in the back seat got to this part of the Interstate, boredom had taken its toll.
I can tell you that Rick and I looked forward to seeing this tree every holiday season. Nancy brought thousands and thousands of smiles to the weary travelers during the holiday season.
Thank you Nancy Loftis!
and
Merry Christmas!
"Scrubby"
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