Photo: okimo / iStock / Getty Images
For the past 15 winters, travelers along a remote stretch of Interstate 90 in Montana have been charmed by a lone pine tree decorated for Christmas, but no one knew about its origins. Some believed it was a memorial or a tradition started by the local Native American Crow Reservation. The mystery was solved when Carl Stark and his wife Jonnie, who’d been curious for years, left a note on the tree and later got a call from the decorator himself, German Segura, a 70-year-old trucker from Texas.
The tradition of decorating the tree each year began in 2009 during a snowy drive through the area, when Segura joked with his wife, Elsa, about the lonely tree needing a jacket. The next year, he returned to decorate the tree and it became an annual tradition, with Segura putting up the decorations every November and removing them at winter's end.
What started as a gesture from Segura to his wife has become a beloved community tradition. Locals have joined in on the fun, too, leaving stockings, toys, and solar lights, and Segura’s friends and family have also helped expand the tradition. After working in the shadows for years, Segura now gets to see the joy that the tradition he started brings to the community, and he’s deeply moved by the gratitude.
Source: THE TIMES