Tybee Christmas By Micheal Elliott
I don’t know who stuck the dead Christmas tree in the sand between the
14th Street crosswalk and the Ocean, but it remained up for days as the
tides rolled in an out.
Brown with only a few needles, it was naked and bare, resembling a wooden
tomb on the Beach with Seagulls standing information against the wind.
The day after it was planted, someone took empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans,
stuck them on the end of a couple of branches and ... something happened.
The following morning the tree was adored with gold garland.
Blue, red and green ornaments mysteriously appeared.
A large white star fell from Heaven, landing on the brown dead top stem.
Silver tinsel blew in from somewhere and then suddenly, regally clothed
branches caught each strand and wore them proudly.
By Christmas Eve it was impossible to tell the tree was dead as it sparkled in
the bright sunshine and danced in the Ocean breezes and colorful wrapped
boxes spread under its branches in the sand.
On Christmas morning a solitary figure wearing a kilt played “Amazing
Grace” to the tree as others left their homes, vacation rentals, cottages and
hotel rooms to watch.
It was the most wonderful island way to remind ourselves of peace on earth
and goodwill to men and women.
And no one knew who did what to make the miracle happen.
Who lost their mind, taking a dead Christmas Tree to the Beach and planting
it in the sand?
Who took their empties and used them to inspire real decorations?
How many contributed to bringing the tree back to life with decorations?
What was in the boxes and why place them there?
32 TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | DEC 2018
Why Bagpipes and how were they heard through the wind to beckon
a collection of strangers from far and near to gather on the Beach as in
worship?
Christmas on Tybee is quiet, quirky and generous.
The City kicks it off with Chamber of Commerce decorations and a street
party, parade, institutional decorations and a real tree bolted to the concrete
at the end of Tybrisa Street so the wind doesn’t blow it away or it’s not
stolen. The only thing not decorated are the Stop Signs.
The Island Churches take it from there with formal services, choir cantatas,
caroling and a reminder that it’s all supposed to be about the birth of a child.
The Bars take over planning celebrations, parties and feasts that culminate
on Christmas morning when special Potluck dinners are sponsored for
everyone who has nowhere or no one. All the things the Churches talk about
take flesh and the body of Christ shows up in multiple places at the same
time.
Year-round residents remaining on Tybee end the day in clusters of afterglow
in the Churches, Bars, hotel rooms, on the Pier or the Beach.
Christmas on Tybee is a crazy tapestry of planned, unplanned, family, singles,
religious and not-so-much under a blazing canopy of stars with channel
markers underneath floating on the Sea, roaring waves sloppily kissing the
shore, Seagulls standing sentry on the Beach all mixed together in a magic
gumbo of acceptance in a world increasingly intolerant of most everything.
If you’ve been on Tybee long enough you may remember that virtually all of the
sand dunes between 14th and 6th Streets are built upon discarded Christmas
trees.
In days of old, twenty years ago, everyone on Tybee threw their discarded
Christmas Trees on the Beach to catch the sand and make dunes. It worked
magnificently well and without any Government assistance, the Dunes are
now four deep in some places where there once were none.
And every few years, one of them magically appears between the Beach and
the 14th Street crosswalk to remind us what Christmas really is on this island.