Foxdale Village Residents’ Christmas Tree Donation Fosters Community, Giving

The blue spruce has been part of the Foxdale Village grounds since the State College retirement community was founded 30 years ago.

Groundskeeper Vladimir Maslov planted it himself, and today he estimates it’s grown to about 18 feet. But after decades in front of one of Foxdale’s homes, it’s grown much larger than any other trees around it and close to the house. So it was time for it to come down.

‘This tree just started getting taller and taller and I think it’s a little bit too close to the building,’ said Ingrid Hoffnar, who has lived with her husband, Bernie, in the residence the tree stands in front of for the past three years. ‘That why it’s coming down now and then we found somebody that really would like to have it as a Christmas tree and we said that’s wonderful.’

That someone is Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Centre County.

On Tuesday, fellowship volunteers and Foxdale staff cut down and hauled the tree away to the congregation at 780 Waupelani Drive, where it will be decorated by the fellowship community and be part of not only the Christmas celebration but also UUFCC’s efforts to brighten the holidays for others.

Rev. Carol Thomas Cissel, who earlier this year became minister at UUFCC, said it’s tradition for kids and families to make ornaments for the tree, and those add new stories each year. Fellowship member Ron Smith added that he was unsure of everything that would be included in the decorations this year, but that in the past hats and mittens that can be given to children were included on the branches.

But along with the big tree, UUFCC will have another tree. The congregation partners with Centre County Women’s Resource Center and decorates the Angel Tree with paper angels. Each has the name of a child or family and a list.

‘So a family is able to pick an angel, buy what’s on the reverse side of it and it goes to a particular kid or family to make their Christmas wish come true,’ Thomas Cissel said. ‘We wrap them and give them back to the Women’s Resource Center and they make sure the families get them before Christmas Eve.

‘It’s such a great project because even the smallest child can pick one of the angels that’s, say for a kid their age, and then go out and make sure they get that thing and bring it back so they can be part of it too.’

UUFCC has a strong relationship with Foxdale, with more than 40 residents who are members of the congregation.

That connection worked out well for everyone when one fellowship member knew the Hoffnars and Foxdale were hoping to take down the tree but didn’t want to just get rid of it. They gladly agreed to make that spruce the UUFCC Christmas tree.

‘It’s been a real community piece,’ Thomas Cissel said. ‘It really is an example of how we’re connected to Foxdale. We come over and do a service for them, they come over and go to services with us. It’s a way of coming together. They’re giving us the tree. We have a great place to put it. They’ll come and see it and go to our holiday gatherings. We’ll come over and see them. It’s a virtuous cycle. All of us are kind of coming together and making this happen.

‘The connection between the fellowship and Foxdale is really important and we do a lot of things to keep it strong. This is an example of that.’

It’s Thomas Cissel’s first Christmas with UUFCC, and everyone who has seen the tree has told her it’s the best they’ve had in years.

Smith, who was on hand to help cut and haul away the tree, has been with the congregation for decades and he agrees.

‘I’ve been cutting trees for 40 years for the fellowship and this is the most beautiful,’ he said. ‘This is nicer than the one [from College Township] that went to New York City.’