CHANDLER, AZ -- A Christmas tree in the Valley that’s perfect all year round.
Chandler Parks Division crews have started building the city's Tumbleweed Tree for the holiday season.
Over the next week they will add 1,500 tumbleweeds to the wire frame, cover them with paint and glitter, and add holiday lights and other decorations in preparation for the official lighting ceremony on December 5.
They do most of the work in the morning and early afternoon at Dr. A.J. Chandler Park, on the west side of Arizona Avenue south of Chandler Boulevard.
This unique Chandler tradition began in 1957, when Chandler resident Earl Barnum raised the idea of a tumbleweed tree after he saw a similar one in Indiana built out of cone-shaped chicken wire with pine boughs stuck in the holes.
Many members of the community helped create the first tree in Chandler using tumbleweeds that they gathered from around town.
Chandler is the only city in the southwestern United States that has a Christmas tree made out of tumble weeds.
First, members of the City's Park Operations Division gather tumbleweeds from the outskirts of the city.
With Chandler's rapid growth and development, fewer stretches of empty land are within the city limits, which made it harder to find tumbleweeds in large amounts.
The park crews collect the tumbleweeds earlier each year to have enough for the tree.
