The towering evergreen that appears as if by magic on the Greene County Courthouse steps the Friday after Black Friday has a backstory that was almost – but not quite – lost to time.
Thanks to the late G. Wayne Smith, who pored over the microfilm of old local newspapers to write the History of Greene County, we know it made the news when the Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Waynesburg Board of Trade put up the first Christmas tree at the courthouse on December 19, 1916. The story doesn’t say what spirit moved the ladies and tradesmen of the county to sponsor such an extravagant event but it reports that John Hoge donated the 50-foot spruce, county commissioners bought the lights and the local power company paid to light them up for a week of nightly services and festivities that began with Christmastide on Sunday, December 24. Some 1,200 people came to hear Burgess Meighen open the 6:45 p.m. services with prayers followed by a coronet solo. For the next six days, community churches took turns leading the services, prayers and music held round the tree.
What prompted this might be explained by the times the world was living through. America was about to take those first tentative steps towards entering a war that had already ignited Europe. By May 18, 1917, the Selective Services Act would be enacted, the first since the Civil War and the first to disallow the wealthy to purchase substitutes. All men aged 21 to 30 would sign up to be selected – or not – for the first wave of recruitment and the men of Company K would begin mustering out to Camp Sherman in September, then on to the battle fields of France.
It’s possible that the wives and mothers of Greene County were moved to action in the best way possible – to do something to bring their community together in the spirit of peace and good will to mankind as they faced an uncertain future that would send their sons and husbands off to the First World War.
That first tree was most likely decorated with red ribbons, a German tradition practiced since the mid-1800s in America. There would probably be fruit and candy in paper cones for the children who came to stand in awe before all those newfangled electric lights.
The courthouse tree didn’t make the microfilm again until 1927 when John Headley of Equitable Gas “took the initiative” to put up a tree and the business community rallied behind him. Carnegie Natural Gas, Peoples Gas and Waynesburg Water Supply got into the act and George Murdock of Jefferson donated the tree. It’s not hard to imagine those first cars on High Street slowing down to admire the sight and stopping to do some Christmas shopping while they were in town. By 1931 a tree on the courthouse steps marked the beginning of the holiday season. That year, James K. Thomas donated the lights, West Penn Power paid for the electricity and merchants put up Christmas trees with lights on both sides of High Street.
Having a Christmas tree on the courthouse steps relied on those who donated the trees and those with access to a boom truck and other tools to do the heavy lifting and placement that came with felling and moving a 30-foot tree, then anchoring it to the steps and decorating it.
From the 1930s through the 1950s local gas companies used their workers to get the trees and bring them to the courthouse with company equipment.
When the Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge 461 in Waynesburg decided to take on the project in the 1960s, it was because members who were gas company employees or retirees still had access to the equipment and the Waynesburg Fire Department had the bucket truck and manpower to do the decorating.
When Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful got involved 13 years ago, Holiday Open House was added to the festivities. Fire barrels were on street corners, carolers and musicians made the rounds, free wagon rides and visits with Santa were happening as holiday shoppers browsed stores and vendors in their outdoor kiosks for presents. The Holiday Open House event has become the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season in Greene County. This year’s Holiday Open House will be held on December 3.
The tradition of donating mature spruce and fir trees for the Courthouse steps continues. Many of them have outgrown their spot in the yard and need removed. These big 30- to 50-foot beauties from around the county are prime candidates for their next incarnation as a towering Christmas tree, ready to wow children of all ages through the Christmas season.