{"id":104688,"date":"2025-12-22T08:42:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T08:42:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/104688\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T08:42:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T08:42:23","slug":"science-mixed-with-holiday-magic-safeguards-century-old-legacy-of-christmas-tree-lane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/104688\/","title":{"rendered":"Science Mixed With Holiday Magic Safeguards Century-old Legacy of \u2018Christmas Tree Lane\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"First cedar tree on Christmas Tree Lane \u2013 Courtesy of Belmont Nursery in Fresno, CA<\/p>\n

Modern science has mixed with Christmas magic to safeguard the legacy of a 100-year-old holiday tradition in Fresno, California.<\/p>\n

The story of Christmas Tree Lane began in 1920 as a way to transform a family tragedy into something much brighter.<\/p>\n

According to a historical marker<\/a>, in June of 1919, 14-year-old William \u201cBilly\u201d Winning died on his family\u2019s half-acre homestead in a tragic machinery accident. In memory of him, Billy\u2019s mother, Mae, decorated a deodar cedar tree in front of the family\u2019s two-story home to honor the boy who always loved Christmas.<\/p>\n

The tribute quickly gained considerable attention in an era when few families could afford to decorate with electric lights. As the years passed, other neighbors near the home on Van Ness Boulevard also decorated trees outside their homes in a sign of solidarity and support.<\/p>\n

And the movement kept growing. By the 1920s, the number of decorated homes had reached 17 and in the 1930s \u2014with the Great Depression still raging\u2014the abundance of displays had earned the two-mile stretch a nickname: \u201cChristmas Tree Lane.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Christmas Tree Lane historical marker \u2013 Photographed by Lester J. Letson<\/p>\n

Today, it attracts 100,000 visitors each year and continues to receive consistent support from community donations. (See the video below that shows the lights display\u2026)<\/p>\n

However, in recent years, concern started growing on Christmas Tree Lane. The original tree, decorated in honor of Billy Winning, looked sickly.<\/p>\n

The new homeowners kept nurturing the tree as best they could, but something more drastic had to be done. It wasn\u2019t going to make it on its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree or four years ago we recognized that one of the original trees on Christmas Tree Lane was dying,\u201d Jon Reelhorn, owner of Belmont Nursery told KMPH-TV News<\/a> in an interview.<\/p>\n

The folks at the nursery were asked, \u2018can we clone the tree\u2019.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when modern science and the Christmas spirit came together. Cuttings from the original tree were sent to a drafter in Oregon who offered to make a clone of the memorial cedar for free.<\/p>\n

Eighty small genetic clones were created from the original tree\u2019s profile. Those saplings were then carefully grown in pots, cared for over the next 3-4 years by the Belmont Nursery in Fresno.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cloned cedar trees \u2013 Courtesy of Belmont Nursery in Fresno FB page<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are honored to be part of preserving this beautiful piece of our community\u2019s history,\u201d Belmont Nursery said in a Facebook post<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n

The nursery then delivered the cloned cedar saplings to their new home on Christmas Tree Lane<\/a>, which is managed by the Fig Garden Homeowners Association.<\/p>\n

The roots will all be different but, otherwise, the trees will be genetically identical to the one that started it all, a perfect tribute to the tradition that has brought Christmas cheer to so many for over a century.<\/p>\n

MORE HOLIDAY CHEER:
\u2022\u00a0Stunning Crocheted Christmas Tree Knits Together Community of Extraordinary Women<\/a>
\u2022 Boy Sent to Christmas Nativity Shows up as Elvis Instead of Elf After Family Mix-up<\/a>
\u2022 Man Finds Christmas Gift in Wall with His Name on it 46 Years Later<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fig Garden Association coordinates the massive light displays and decorations that have made the neighborhood nationally-renowned as one of the first and most impressive such displays in the US. Their video below shows how the Lane comes alive during Christmas every year.<\/p>\n

The memorial magic is now in its 103rd year\u2014and will keep growing far into the future.<\/p>\n

SHARE THE CHRISTMAS TREE JOY With Every Scrooge on Social Media\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First cedar tree on Christmas Tree Lane \u2013 Courtesy of Belmont Nursery in Fresno, CA Modern science has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[7,9479,179,112,114,113,418,1040,56727,26718,19583],"class_list":["post-104688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-california","tag-christmas","tag-community","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-history","tag-holiday","tag-inspiring","tag-kindness","tag-trees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}