A new tree at the Living History Park is definitely not just "for the birds."
The tree was placed at the park Saturday as part of the Christmas for the Birds, organized by the Olde Town Preservation group.
The tall pine glows with decorations made for it by loving hands.
Shelby Jo Higginbottom, one of Saturday's decorators, carefully coated a pinecone in a mixture of peanut butter and lard. Then she moved to a bin of bird seed and rolled the pinecone in it to cover it thoroughly. Her ornament was ready to hang on the tree with the others she had made.
The 14-foot pine tree came from Wright's Tree Farm in Ward, SC.
"I looked at a lot of trees before I found just the right one," said Brenda Bancroft, a member of the Olde Town Preservation Association, which acts as a caretaker for the Living History Park.
The birdseed was provided by Wild Birds Unlimited and many of the participants brought supplies for the ornaments. There was an array of oranges, apples, cranberries, bagels, popcorn and pine cones.
"Everyone who participates in the decorations takes home something with them for their own tree," said Lynn Thompson, chairwoman of the Olde Town Preservation Association. "We have been doing this for five years now to teach children and adults about nature and showing them how they can give back to nature," she said.
Paul Koehler from the Silver Bluff Audubon Society was on hand with an interesting display of birds and feathers to let the children and adults see examples from nature in their own area. The collection also included bird nests and eggs, as well as informational literature on the Audubon Society.
This year the Christmas for the Birds event had a special visitor for the participants. St. Nicholas stopped by and explained how Christmas traditions have evolved.
"In the fourth century I was the Bishop of Myra in what is now known as Turkey," he said to the crowd of children. Being a generous man he secretly helped many people in need. His secret gifting was revealed when he gave three bags of gold to the three daughters of a farmer for their dowry to be married. The farmer saw him and was sworn to secrecy.
It became known that the Bishop was the kind, caring person who had helped so many people. St. Nicholas is most commonly known as the patron of all children.
"The oranges children sometimes find in their stockings are a symbol of the bags of gold the Bishop gave the daughters," said St. Nicholas.
Reach Marcia Perron at pawz24@bellsouth.net.
