Changes coming for longtime downtown Christmas tree

A downtown church plans to continue a Christmas tradition that gives travelers on Minnesota Avenue a brightly lit tree to enhance their holiday spirit.

The 50-foot Christmas tree that has been festooned with lights and lit nightly for about 30 years will be taken down within days, however, and replaced with an artificial tree.

The Rev. Sara Nelson of First United Methodist Church at 401 S. Spring Ave. informed church members in an email Tuesday that the Colorado spruce is dying of old age and must be cut down so it does not become a safety hazard. Its actual age could not be determined by an arborist.

“Nevertheless, this holiday tradition will continue as an artificial tree has been purchased,” Nelson wrote. “It will be erected each year near the spot of the original tree so that it will continue to be visible from Minnesota Avenue.”

The tree is located between 12th and 13th streets. The house it once sheltered was removed years ago and replaced with a church parking lot. The 40-foot artificial tree, which will resemble a mountain pine, will be installed a few feet away from the original tree on the parking lot’s far east side. The church is pouring a concrete pad so the tree can be slightly elevated, Nelson said.

The tree was first decorated after a Sioux Falls woman told her husband that was what she wanted for her Christmas gift.

The late Dale and Dorothy Weir were driving on Minnesota Avenue near 12th Street in the early 1990s when he posed his question. She responded, “That tree … only with lights and decorations, to celebrate the magic of the holiday season.”

Dale Weir made his wife’s wish come true and paid to have bright holiday lights placed on the tree that winter and in subsequent years. They viewed the tree lighting as a gift to the community that they loved, Nelson said in her email.

Dorothy Weir had moved to Sioux Falls as a child. She married Dale Weir in 1965 and worked for a former mayor of Sioux Falls until she began assisting her husband in his building-products business. The couple eventually bought the small square of land where the tree stood, according to her obituary.

Dorothy Weir died in 2003. Dale Weir continued the tradition in his wife’s memory, and before his death in 2010, he established a fund with the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation. The money he donated ensured that the tree would continue to be lit at Christmastime for years to come. Dale Weir’s contributions to Sioux Falls also include donating 131 acres to create Arrowhead Park.

After Dale Weir’s death, First United Methodist has continued to coordinate the tree lighting, using those funds.

Church officials had known for months that the tree’s vitality was fading and that something would have to be done.

“We had an arborist evaluate the current tree and learned it had outlived the typical lifespan of a tree of its kind,” Nelson said.

The church investigated planting another live tree, but the arborist recommended against it, saying the location wasn’t ideal.

“He was surprised the tree had done as well as it had,” Nelson said.

Removing the tree was not an easy decision to make, she said.

“It’s bittersweet. The tree, it’s meant a lot to people within the church and to people within the community for a very long time,” Nelson said. “It was a thoughtful process of trying to figure out the tradition in a way to honor Dale and Dorothy Weir.”

After it is cut down, if the tree’s wood is good enough, First United Methodist hopes to use it to construct benches or something that will be used by others.

“We want to make something out of it so people can have a piece of the tree for years to come,” Nelson said. “We want to try to reclaim the wood as much as possible.”

The church has planned a Celebration of Life for the old tree at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 12. The public is invited to join church members in celebrating the years of enjoyment it offered and learn more about the new tree.

First United Methodist Church’s tradition of holding a tree-lighting ceremony will continue with the new tree. It will be at 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26. The public also is invited to that event and the dedication of Dorothy’s Tree of Hope.