McClure family finds joy in decorating 'ugly' Christmas trees

WHITE PIGEON — The Christmas tree tradition has taken a turn for the McClure family of White Pigeon in recent years.

For the past decade, they’ve been decorating the ugliest trees they can find.

Brooke McClure, mother of the clan, explained how it all got started. Her husband, Billy McClure, was not really into Christmas time, she said.

“He felt like the season had gotten too out of hand with spending too much money and that we weren’t really celebrating the holidays for it’s true meaning,” Brooke said.

So one year the family was really late on setting up a Christmas tree, Brooke said. It was about a week before the 25th.

“I had to basically con my husband into going to get the tree,” she said.

So the family arrived at a tree lot and began driving around to find a tree.

Brooke was looking for a nice big and fluffy one that would look good in front of the family’s big picture window, but Billy had other plans.

“My husband gets out and says, 'How about this one?',” Brooke said. “It was the ugliest tree there. It had a branch that shot out of the top and that would probably have to be bent over in our living room. I said, ‘Ummm, no.’,”

But Billy convinced the couple’s daughters, Tarah and Sydney, if they got the ugliest tree, they would never forget it.

“He asked me how many trees have I had in my lifetime that I remembered,” Brooke said. “I said, well none of them, I guess. They all look the same in a way. And he then states, ‘Well you will remember this one forever.'”

Billy bought the tree for about $5. Brooke and the girls decorated it and had fun making it look even uglier.

“We put a bow and a flashing orange Christmas light on that tall branch that was touching the ceiling and we loved it,” Brooke said. “We also remember it.”

So the next year came around and the family thought about the fun they had the year prior and decided to find an even uglier Christmas tree.

“That’s where the tradition began,” Brooke said. “Although I still spend too much money at Christmas time, when we put up our tree for the year it makes me appreciate the little things that don’t cost money at all. We don’t have fancy ornaments or beautiful lights. But when I sit in my living room with the Christmas lights on at night, I feel blessed and happy that I have this ugly tree that brings a smile to our faces every year.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: news-McClure family-Christmas trees-ugly trees