Festival of Trees: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas trees are one of the endearing and enduring symbols of Christmas. The custom as we know it originated in Germany.

One charming legend says that Martin Luther noticed a tree in the forest as he was walking home one night that was frosted with snow and lit by the moonlight. He wanted his children to experience the beauty of the tree and took one home to set up inside their house.

The idea of evergreens as a symbol of life in dreary winter goes much farther back than Martin Luther, of course. Many pagans thought that bringing in a green, live tree during Solstice festivals would bring good luck.

As Christianity replaced paganism in many parts of the world, those traditions continued, and because of Luther or not, Christmas trees became very popular in Germany.

After England's Queen Victoria married German Prince Albert, the custom took off in the British Isles. Albert remembered the trees of his childhood and wanted his children to experience the same wonder and joy, so the royal family set up a Christmas tree in Windsor Castle in 1841. By the 1860s, Christmas trees had become a vital part of the Dickensian Christmas we know and love today.

Today's Christmas trees twinkle with lights and sparkle with all kinds of ornaments, perhaps nowhere brighter than at the annual Festival of Trees, where some 800 Christmas trees will be gathered to light up the season.

Just as that long-ago tree might have done for Martin Luther, these trees don't just shine, they inspire.

"Each light shines a message of hope and love, and represents the 'stars' of the Festival of Trees," says Sharon Smith, publicity chairwoman for this year's festival. Those stars, she says, include the children at the Primary Children's Medical Center, the thousands of volunteers who make the festival possible and the hundreds who have a tree dedicated in their honor each year.

The Festival of Trees runs Wednesday through Saturday at the South Towne Expo Center, with all proceeds benefiting Primary Children's Medical Center. "Everything is donated, so every penny goes to the children," says Smith.

Each tree has a distinct personality, and each tree also has a unique story behind its creation.

Some trees celebrate work done at Primary in saving lives. Consider, for example, "Knight Before Christmas," which celebrates Alyse Myers, 12, who underwent three heart surgeries at the hospital. Alyse's favorite things are medieval knights and dragons, and she's helping to decorate the tree with her artwork.

Other trees pay tribute to the life of a loved one who has died. Jackson Miller suffered from cancer and found peace and comfort by looking out the windows on his home, watching the birds in the trees. "Jackson's Alpine Tree" is decorated with birds like those he loved.