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6-A
Sunday, December 12,1965 THE FRESNO BEE
Christmas Tree Lane, Started In Tragedy, Becomes Heralded Event
By Karl M. Kidder
Dr. W. W. Leslie had a reminiscent look as he thought back
to the 1920s when Fresno's
Christmas Tree Lane was having its beginnings. His expression was tinged somewhat with
anticipation as he thought
ahead to the 1965 display of
lights and splendor scheduled to
open Friday.
"It seems odd, looking back,
to remember that all of this
beauty was born of tragedy,"
said the 84-year-old Fresnan.
Bee Photo
'ON DONNER . . !' — An almost perennial fixture in
Fresno's salute to the Yule along Christmas Tree Lane is
this "reindeer," one of three which Dr. and Mrs. W. W.
Leslie install on their rooftop with a Santa. The Leslies
years ago acquired the reindeer, which are made of plaster covering actual deer skeletons. Like this one, they all
show their ages. ■
He was referring to an accident in the home of Dr. and
Mrs. W. P. Winning which
claimed the life of their 5-year-
old son, Jimmy. Mrs. Winning
put some lights in a little tree
in their front yard on North
Van Ness Boulevard as a memorial to him.
This was how Christmas Tree
Lane started. Or, perhaps it
started when a resident named
Beally decorated two of his
trees fronting the boulevard
farther north.
"Actually, the fact of how it!
started is unimportant," Leslie
said. "What is important is that
it has grown each year and that
Fresnans and, for that matter,
persons from all over America,
admire the spectacle and cornel
back to see it year after year."!
Leslie's interest is, pardonably, quite personal. He was one
of the leaders in a movement
to expand the spectacle a year
or two after the first lights
twinkled from the small trees.
By 1927, he remembers, about
10 residents had strung electric
wires from their homes to lights
tied to the roadside limbs with
twine.
Leslie is the "grandfather" of
the lane as it is now seen by
thousands every Yule season.
He visited the display put on
every year in Altadena, a small
town near Pasadena, and came
home with determination to
stage an even better one in
Fresno.
In 1929, by dint of much persuasion and lots of talk, the
Fresno Rotary Club and the
Chamber of Commerce each
gave the Figarden Mens Club
$150. Another $400 was raised
by public subscription. Six short
blocks of the boulevard were
resplendent that Christmas season with gayly lighted trees.
Some homes had yard displays
depicting the coming of Santa
Claus.
Leslie's rooftop boasted a Santa and two reindeer. A rainstorm early in the season just
about finished his Santa, which
had been fashioned of a barley
sack stuffed with grass and
leaves. His reindeer, which still
exist, were made of plaster
stretched over the skeletons of
two deer.
The next season the lane
started to expand as more and
more residents joined in the
spirit of Christmas and added
their bit to the over-all display.
Soon after the opening, one entire string of lights along the
west side of the lane winked
off.
"An electrician put in a new
fuse and said he thought that
would hold things," Leslie
chuckles. "An hour or so later,
all the lights across the street
went out. Our friend only had
one more fuse. It finished out
the two weeks for us."
There was the year when the
lights flashed with their message of the Yule until New
Year's Night when they were
scheduled to be turned off. A
rainstorm hit that night, and
all the coloring — the blues,
the reds and the yellows — was
washed off the lamps and onto
the duff under the deodars.
"J. C. Forkner planted those
trees about 1920," Leslie re
members. "One night, during
all the fuss to get them ready
for visitors, I heard a shout
from their yard, which was
across the street from my
place. I hurried over, and there
was Jim, one of the Forkner
boys, electrified.
Jim had caught hold of a
hot wire strung from the house,
and couldn't let go. He wasn't
badly hurt, just scared."
The incident involving J. C.
Forkner Jr. has an application
even today. Considerable electrical power is required to light
the myriad lamps, and this is a
threat to youngsters who seem
to have an uncontrollable impulse to steal the globes.
The residents along the lane
in those beginning years were
afraid of such an incident. This
possibility, coupled with mounting expenses and, in time, the
reluctance of some to join in
the spirit of the annual event,
eventually led to a "Shall we
do it this year?" feeling.
The optimism of such as Mrs
Manson McCormick, Mrs. W. E.
Roberts, Mrs. Emma Liddell,
the Leslies kept it going.
Leslie chairmanned the first
Christmas Tree Lane Committee
in 1930. Members included his
wife, Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Bern-
hauer, Dr. and Mrs. Winning,
Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Roberts,
Mr. and Mrs. J. M. McCrosky
and Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Bartlett.
Leslie continued as chairman
for seven years. He recalls the
darkest" period of the lane,
figuratively as well as literally, were the two years of World
War II when the government
decreed the lane must stay
dark because of the blackout.
The men's club has had al
most full responsibility since
1934. It is noteworthy that the
club was formed in the Leslies'
sitting room. Its president*
have been honorary chairmen
of the lane, and the list includes:
Benjamin Levy, E. R. Copland, Paul Fairchild, Arch
Campbell, (Mrs. Bartlett was
Campbell's cochairman in
1950); Elmer Hansen, John Wil-
ley, William Barieau, Henry
Thane, Charles Marsella, Robert D. McLaughlin, Frank A.
Easton Jr., Reggie Murphy, Peter D. Hansen, Porter K. Craighead, Chester Jones, R. R.
Baird.
J. C. Cannon is chairman this
year, although Richard Helm
and Craighead are cochairmen
and will be in charge from the
lane's official opening at 6 p.m.
Friday until it closes late the
night of Dec. 26.
As they have for years, the
Leslies' Santa Ana reindeer
will be high atop the roof of
their house at 4222 N. Van Ness
Blvd., sending their greetings,
with the others, for a Merry
Christmas.
Object Description
| Title | Scrapbook |
| Object type | Photo album |
| Physical collection | Leon S. Peters papers |
| Folder structure | Biographical_information |
Description
| Title | Page 81a |
| Date Created | 1965-12-12 |
| Physical description | 27.6 cm. x 38.1 cm. |
| Full text search | 6-A Sunday, December 12,1965 THE FRESNO BEE Christmas Tree Lane, Started In Tragedy, Becomes Heralded Event By Karl M. Kidder Dr. W. W. Leslie had a reminiscent look as he thought back to the 1920s when Fresno's Christmas Tree Lane was having its beginnings. His expression was tinged somewhat with anticipation as he thought ahead to the 1965 display of lights and splendor scheduled to open Friday. "It seems odd, looking back, to remember that all of this beauty was born of tragedy," said the 84-year-old Fresnan. Bee Photo 'ON DONNER . . !' — An almost perennial fixture in Fresno's salute to the Yule along Christmas Tree Lane is this "reindeer," one of three which Dr. and Mrs. W. W. Leslie install on their rooftop with a Santa. The Leslies years ago acquired the reindeer, which are made of plaster covering actual deer skeletons. Like this one, they all show their ages. ■ He was referring to an accident in the home of Dr. and Mrs. W. P. Winning which claimed the life of their 5-year- old son, Jimmy. Mrs. Winning put some lights in a little tree in their front yard on North Van Ness Boulevard as a memorial to him. This was how Christmas Tree Lane started. Or, perhaps it started when a resident named Beally decorated two of his trees fronting the boulevard farther north. "Actually, the fact of how it! started is unimportant," Leslie said. "What is important is that it has grown each year and that Fresnans and, for that matter, persons from all over America, admire the spectacle and cornel back to see it year after year."! Leslie's interest is, pardonably, quite personal. He was one of the leaders in a movement to expand the spectacle a year or two after the first lights twinkled from the small trees. By 1927, he remembers, about 10 residents had strung electric wires from their homes to lights tied to the roadside limbs with twine. Leslie is the "grandfather" of the lane as it is now seen by thousands every Yule season. He visited the display put on every year in Altadena, a small town near Pasadena, and came home with determination to stage an even better one in Fresno. In 1929, by dint of much persuasion and lots of talk, the Fresno Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce each gave the Figarden Mens Club $150. Another $400 was raised by public subscription. Six short blocks of the boulevard were resplendent that Christmas season with gayly lighted trees. Some homes had yard displays depicting the coming of Santa Claus. Leslie's rooftop boasted a Santa and two reindeer. A rainstorm early in the season just about finished his Santa, which had been fashioned of a barley sack stuffed with grass and leaves. His reindeer, which still exist, were made of plaster stretched over the skeletons of two deer. The next season the lane started to expand as more and more residents joined in the spirit of Christmas and added their bit to the over-all display. Soon after the opening, one entire string of lights along the west side of the lane winked off. "An electrician put in a new fuse and said he thought that would hold things," Leslie chuckles. "An hour or so later, all the lights across the street went out. Our friend only had one more fuse. It finished out the two weeks for us." There was the year when the lights flashed with their message of the Yule until New Year's Night when they were scheduled to be turned off. A rainstorm hit that night, and all the coloring — the blues, the reds and the yellows — was washed off the lamps and onto the duff under the deodars. "J. C. Forkner planted those trees about 1920," Leslie re members. "One night, during all the fuss to get them ready for visitors, I heard a shout from their yard, which was across the street from my place. I hurried over, and there was Jim, one of the Forkner boys, electrified. Jim had caught hold of a hot wire strung from the house, and couldn't let go. He wasn't badly hurt, just scared." The incident involving J. C. Forkner Jr. has an application even today. Considerable electrical power is required to light the myriad lamps, and this is a threat to youngsters who seem to have an uncontrollable impulse to steal the globes. The residents along the lane in those beginning years were afraid of such an incident. This possibility, coupled with mounting expenses and, in time, the reluctance of some to join in the spirit of the annual event, eventually led to a "Shall we do it this year?" feeling. The optimism of such as Mrs Manson McCormick, Mrs. W. E. Roberts, Mrs. Emma Liddell, the Leslies kept it going. Leslie chairmanned the first Christmas Tree Lane Committee in 1930. Members included his wife, Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Bern- hauer, Dr. and Mrs. Winning, Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Roberts, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. McCrosky and Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Bartlett. Leslie continued as chairman for seven years. He recalls the darkest" period of the lane, figuratively as well as literally, were the two years of World War II when the government decreed the lane must stay dark because of the blackout. The men's club has had al most full responsibility since 1934. It is noteworthy that the club was formed in the Leslies' sitting room. Its president* have been honorary chairmen of the lane, and the list includes: Benjamin Levy, E. R. Copland, Paul Fairchild, Arch Campbell, (Mrs. Bartlett was Campbell's cochairman in 1950); Elmer Hansen, John Wil- ley, William Barieau, Henry Thane, Charles Marsella, Robert D. McLaughlin, Frank A. Easton Jr., Reggie Murphy, Peter D. Hansen, Porter K. Craighead, Chester Jones, R. R. Baird. J. C. Cannon is chairman this year, although Richard Helm and Craighead are cochairmen and will be in charge from the lane's official opening at 6 p.m. Friday until it closes late the night of Dec. 26. As they have for years, the Leslies' Santa Ana reindeer will be high atop the roof of their house at 4222 N. Van Ness Blvd., sending their greetings, with the others, for a Merry Christmas. |
