It’s unclear who really won the secret town-wide bet on how long the Christmas tree at Island Grove would remain standing.
One could guess perhaps the tree won.
This past December, Abington Celebrates held its 4th annual Christmas at Island Grove, which included a number of family events throughout the afternoon. The culminated with the community gathered around the bandstand gazing up at the more than 30-foot-tall tree on top of it, sparkling with lights.
And there the tree stood, night after night, week after week, celebrating New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. Two out of the past four years, strong winds had toppled the tree over. Not this year, though, thanks to the addition of a fourth guide wire and thicker anchor bolts on the base. When life in Abington came to a COVID-19- related halt, the tree continued to stand.
With a shortage of volunteer availability to have the tree removed, the mighty tree, plucked from a Bedford Street yard, stood stoically at the Grove until June.
On Friday, Nick Mazzilli and a crew from Nick’s Tree Service donated their time and removed the tree.
“The gentlemen who installed the lights for us back in December was from Blackstone Valley and it was too much to ask him to come back and remove the lights,” said Doug Ulwick, Event Coordinator of Abington Celebrates. “So we went in search of someone who would volunteer closer to home and Nick, who was unavailable in the winter, was able to help us out.”
Coincidentally, this weekend was slated to be Abington Celebrates Flag Day / Founder’s Day weekend, with fireworks. Due to the pandemic, this event was cancelled. The Abington Celebrates committee, however, is forging ahead to plan more free, family-fun events for their 5th Annual Oktoberfest Weekend scheduled for October 16 – 18, 2020.
For more information visit Abington Celebrates on Facebook.
Written by Michele Christian, who is also the Public Outreach Coordinator for Abington Celebrates.
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