IT'S too early to talk about Christmas, but in a city fixated with a tree, October is the right time to start tinkering with the annual spectacle.
Armed with a resolve to top the flack of last year’s Yuletide piece bestowed, the city has now allowed new blood a hand in the design of the tree.
The willing victim, son of the congressman who believes in a promised change has taken the project to heart, taking into consideration safety, an obsession with selfies and common sense into the decision to move the Christmas tree to Burnham Park.
The good architect surmised the purpose of a Christmas tree is to make people gather around it, sing carols and marvel at its beauty, something we cannot do if the tree remains to be at the middle of the road.
The solution posed by the congressman’s architect son, was a simple answer to an annual problem. The spot within the Rose Garden will be made for people to gather around the mammoth tree, take pictures and sing carols, away from the street.
The tree will be made of scrap steel cutting the budget the city has allotted in half.
Simple and practical, don’t you think?
Another point raised by the architect is the respect for the existing art piece atop Session Road designed by artist, Gilbert Gano, themed to depict the eight members of the second commission who attended the first Session in the City in 1904, Gen. Luke E. Wright, Henry Ide, Dean Worcester, Padre Tavera, Benito Legarda, Jose De Luzuriaga, James Smith, and William Camerron Forbes.
Sadly, most people think the work is a random pile of rocks.
The decision to move the Christmas tree to Burnham Park and leave in peace the Gano installation at Session Road offers the city a fresh perspective of things to come, if we allow new ideas to come into play.
We hope, the respect given to the existing installation atop Session Road will signal a call to keep the peace with other historical and sentimental structures in the City.
We have to remember, simplicity does have its merits.