Today, Jackie and I took down this year's Christmas tree. As I was unwinding the strings of lights, half of which managed to blow out shortly after I put them on the tree, I got to thinking about which of my friends had the best Christmas tree this year.
Judging the best tree is not an easy task as people decorate in many styles and themes, each of which have merits in their own categories. Mentally going through the trees that I saw this year, I finally decided that the Blog's 2010 Christmas tree award goes to Joyce and Harry DeVerter who live in the old Captain William French house on North Maple Avenue.
The old William French house decorated for Christmas.
(December 14, 2009 photo by Pete Stemmer.)
The DeVerter's tree was painstakingly decorated with many antique hand blown glass Christmas ornaments that they had been lovingly collecting over the years. The old fashioned ornaments blended in with the atmosphere of the old house. Looking at the antique ornaments, I almost felt that old Captain William French was admiringly looking over my shoulder at the brightly decorated tree.
The DeVerter Christmas Tree is brightly decorated with a variety of hand blown antique ornaments. (January 1, 2011 photo by Pete Stemmer.)
So, it is with great pleasure that I bestow upon the DeVerter family the Blog's 2010 Christmas Tree Award. It is doubly deserved as Harry grew and harvested the tree from his backyard, as the old time New Gretna-ites probably did in the mid 1800's when the William French house was built.
May everyone out in the Blog-O-Sphere have a happy and healthy New Year!
Pete S