Home-grown, homemade ornaments on St. Francis convent ‘winter tree’
The winter season tree that the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi adorn in the foyer of their property displays far more than their like of Xmas. It also demonstrates their camaraderie, the skills of staff who operate with them, and their devotion to the setting.
On the significant artificial tree in Elizabeth Corridor at the St. Francis Convent in St. Francis, all the ornaments are normal.
Angels created from corn husks have wings fashioned from dried milkweed pods garlands are crafted from apples, sizzling peppers and Chinese lantern pods sensitive bouquets are fashioned from the seed pods of silver dollar vegetation and star-formed gourds are painted a shimmering gold.
These decorations and extra ended up grown in the large backyard garden, the greenhouse or the orchard the sisters are inclined on their residence.
Sister Mary Jerome Lacy, 86, who painted the underside of milkweed pods utilized to make the corn husk angels, was pleased to be aspect of the array of expertise working on this year’s tree.
But, she included, her initially try was not exactly stellar.
“I came in a single working day to see if there was anything at all I could do to aid. The very first matter I did was to knock around a jar of white paint. I imagined, ‘There goes my imaginative means!’ But it was Ok. Larry (Willkomm) gave me a larger sized brush, and then I could do it.
“And now when this angel flies into heaven, she will have the milkweed pod wings on her that I assisted make!” she stated.
She also assisted harvest the seed pods from silver dollar vegetation utilised to make ornaments last calendar year, she helped “fluff up” the branches of the tree when it was first set up.
Sister Rosalynn Dzikonski, 90, worked on assembling the silver greenback ornaments, in which the fragile seedpods were glued alongside one another and the seedpod of a Chinese lantern was additional to the middle.
“It took a long time and a great deal of persistence. I glued five seedpods collectively, and when we experienced adequate of them we glued the lanterns in the middle,” she mentioned. “I learned I experienced to have endurance. If I pushed too hard, the seedpods broke. And if I pushed too difficult they would also stick to the paper. Then I attempted putting them on my hand (when gluing them, and they trapped to my hand.
“It was these a satisfaction developing these. In the conclude, it was like having home made cookies or bread. It was a genuine pleasure for me,” she stated.
Turning fist-sized star gourds into ornaments was Sister Margaret Klotz’s undertaking.
“They had to be dried in the greenhouse. We had to hold out two many years. Then we scrubbed them with Brillo pads, and I had to use the point of a nail file to get in the corners,” claimed Klotz, 81. The gourds have been later painted gold.
Honey sticks and weeping willow branches
Larry Willkomm, environment and transportation coordinator at the website, said other ornaments extra to the tree have been built from strawberry popcorn, dried hydrangeas, and “honey sticks” from the apiary on the residence.
Weeping willow branches and corkscrew willow branches had been turned into a tree topper. The corkscrew willow branches had been painted purple, the weeping willow branches white.
Willkomm explained he started out introducing these forms of ornaments to the tree 4 years in the past, and till this calendar year, he did significantly of the operate himself.
“The sisters would appear and fluff up the tree, but this is the initially year the sisters were being engaged to support make new ornaments,” he explained. About 12 of the sisters participated in building the ornaments, and some served hang them.
Preparing for this year’s tree started out early in the 12 months when Willkomm and Sister Helene Mertes ordered seeds for the vegetation by means of seed catalogs, with the decorations in mind. Sister Helene oversees the planting, tending and harvesting of the gardens.
Following the crops had been harvested, some had to be scrubbed, dried or bleached before they could be applied. These responsibilities ended up performed generally by Willkomm, although some sisters assisted. It usually takes about a 12 months to overcome the Chinese lanterns and gourds.
“The hydrangeas have been place in diluted bleach h2o. They go from winter brown to white. The apples are really thinly sliced with a mandoline, and then place in lemon juice with salt to get and keep them white. Future they are set in the dehydrator,” he explained.
The strawberry popcorn plants also expected extra steps. The ears have to be hand pollinated though growing to completely create. After harvested, they’re soaked so silks can be eradicated quickly, and then the husks are peeled back, Willkomm claimed. When finished, they form the shape of a star, with the red popcorn cob in the heart.
Other ornaments also resemble stars.
“I like to position out that the star form is easily discovered in mother nature,” he stated. “The star gourds grow in the shape of a star, the cores of the apples glimpse like stars following they are minimize, and the Chinese lanterns sort the condition of a star when they are cut and then turned inside of out.”
Some are less difficult to work with than other people.
“The apple garland is a nightmare. When we attempt to string them, they tangle,” he said.
Hanging the ornaments expected different strategies. Some parts ended up nestled into the tree, while many others have been connected with toothpicks or skewers, Willkomm explained.
“The greatest part of utilizing an synthetic tree is that you can manipulate the branches to keep them in place,” he reported, but some of the ornaments, like the honey sticks, are hung with traditional hangers.
Some are placed in entrance of the tree lights for the most affect.
“We try out to locate a location where by there is light to place the silver greenback plant ornaments since they are translucent. If you place them in front of a light-weight, it shines as a result of. The light-weight shines by means of the bleached hydrangeas, way too. The bleach h2o can make them extra translucent,” he explained.
Some ornaments can be utilized from year to yr, but many others can not mainly because they are fragile.
“The star gourds I utilized in past several years, and the purple peppers, they’re from previous 12 months, and they fared rather well. I lay them flat with tissue paper between them” to keep them, he said.
The decorated tree, which is about 12 toes tall and stands on a large table, can be noticed from wherever in the region residents get in touch with Town Sq., Willkomm explained. It will stay up for the sisters and their loved ones customers and other guests to love until eventually about mid-February.
Which is partly why the sisters phone it a winter tree, rather than a Christmas tree. Also, the tree went up just before Arrival started off, and its ornaments have been developed in summer season. “Winter tree” highlights the idea that they carry on newfound lifestyle in winter, Marian Doyle, the sisters’ interaction supervisor, claimed in an electronic mail.
Close to Christmas, the area all-around the tree will be filled with red and white poinsettias. All those plants will later be transferred to the chapel and established all through Town Sq. for seasonal gatherings.
While the tree normally takes get the job done, Willkomm reported it is excellent to see how substantially the sisters delight in it.
“It tickles me when they will sit in individuals major quick chairs listed here and have their coffee. They collect in Town Sq., and they ohh and ahh. It fills my tank when I see them experiencing it,” he explained.
