Boyertown PA
12-10-2022 4:27am

Community Comes Together To Create Unity Tree

Note: Photos reflect multiple years of Unity Tree lightings and are courtesy of Amy Muzopappa.

A relative newcomer to the Boyertown area in 2019, resident Amy Muzopappa noticed that something was missing: there was no town Christmas tree.

Amy was impressed by the transformation of the downtown area into an economically sustainable destination. She also cherished the sense of community created by Boyertown’s array of seasonal events, from Wine Walks to Oktoberfest and Chillin’ on Main. Despite these successes, she felt the lovely small town holiday landscape was incomplete without a Christmas tree.

Nosing around a bit, Amy learned that for many years there had been a tree of sorts. Located in front of Boyertown Borough Hall, it was lit and decorated. It also was planted in the ground – and so it grew and grew, and years ago had become too tall and unwieldy to decorate.

Not inclined to give up, Amy asked around about what had become of the old decorations. No one knew –until Judy Wetzel, of Magical Wonders Vacations, solved the mystery and brought Amy to Anita and Rich Zuber’s basement. There, all the old decorations were unearthed. They were subsequently repainted so they could be used again, and Judy became Amy's "right hand man" for the project.

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That first year and every year since, Marlo Weidenbaugh of Mar-Jo Farms has donated a beautiful Douglas Fir that is brought to a site by the railroad tracks in the center of town at Donnie Ellixson’s “Gardens of Boyertown,” and hoisted up by Tony Boyd of Berks-Mont Towing.

Other local citizens and businesses provide additional items and manpower that is needed. For example, this year Dave and Kim Parish of Dallas Tree Service brought their bucket truck to enable decorations to be placed all the way to the top of the tree, which each year seems to be taller.

Seeing the town come together to make the tree a reality caused Amy to think about her own upbringing. “With one Catholic parent and one Jewish parent, I was blessed to grow up with cultural diversity, so the idea of different people coming together to achieve something positive resonates with me,” Amy explains.

“The most important part of the tree is all of the supporters that come together to make it happen,” she continues, “and so I thought of it as a 'community' tree, and I like the word 'unity' in 'community,' and so the Boyertown Unity Tree was born.”

Now an annual tradition, the tree is lit the first Friday of December. Invitations go out via social media. Several hundred people attended this year’s tree-lighting, quite a contrast to the height of the pandemic. Amy remembers, “That year of COVID, maybe 100 people came and stood in the cold rain to sing Christmas carols. But we adapted. We persevered. We are Boyertown.”

The tree lighting ceremony includes live music annually provided by the local group, “Funky Frets,” popcorn and hot dogs, and this year for the first time, hot chocolate. Santa stops by. Candles and music lyrics are distributed and attendees enjoy singing traditional holiday tunes. With Amy acting as mistress of ceremonies, a dramatic countdown leads to the moment the tree is lit.

The lights on the Unity Tree will shine into the new year, and Amy invites everyone to visit. “I love this community because you find the people you need and they find you and good things happen!” she exclaims.

In addition to those already named, the following individuals and businesses also contributed this year: Jim Boyer, Boyertown Community Ambulance; Jim Baron, Denney Electric; Axel Gonzales, Amanda Burger, and Donnie Ellixson, Ellixson’s Tae Kwon Do Academy; Matthew Robb, Thrivent Financial; Muzo Media Productions; St. John’s Lutheran Church; Tessi Melchior, Herb Real Estate; Jeff and Jamie Cascino; Zuber Realty. The event is hosted by Out & About in Eastern Berks on Facebook.  

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