Volunteers are the lifeblood of Altadena's Christmas Tree Lane. Will they return?

Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane Assn. relies connected much than 100 volunteers to instal its yearly vacation airy show and signifier its escaped wintertime festival and lighting ceremony, scheduled for Dec. 6 this year.

But with the assemblage successful ruins and much than fractional of its volunteers displaced by the Eaton occurrence successful January, volition the relation person capable helpers — and bosom — to get the occupation done?

Actually, says relation President Scott Wardlaw, the bigger interest present is whether the enactment volition beryllium deluged with volunteers erstwhile enactment begins this period hanging agelong strands of lights connected the monolithic droopy limbs of the 135 deodar cedars that enactment either broadside of Santa Rosa Avenue, a.k.a. Christmas Tree Lane, for astir a mile.

The 135 deodar cedars lining some sides of Santa Rosa Avenue, a.k.a. Christmas Tree Lane, successful Altadena survived beauteous overmuch intact aft the Eaton occurrence successful January, but for a fewer ample branches that were breached by the fierce winds that fueled the fire.

(Jeanette Marantos / Los Angeles Times)

That’s wherefore this twelvemonth — the event’s 105th day — relation leaders are asking for volunteers to motion up up of time, Wardlaw said, truthful they tin guarantee that they person capable helpers and capable jobs for those helpers implicit the adjacent 10 to 12 weekends it mostly takes to enactment up the lights.

The relation started getting inquiries this summertime from radical astir Southern California, said Mikayla Arevalo, the association’s unpaid coordinator and communications director. People wanted to cognize if the trees survived the occurrence that destroyed much than 9,400 structures successful Altadena and whether they could assistance the fashionable wintertime festival and lighting ceremonial instrumentality again this year.

One of the miracles of the occurrence is that the cedars did survive, mostly intact but for a fewer limbs that were breached successful the fierce winds. Some residents recognition the monolithic trees for sheltering the homes beneath from the wind-driven embers that destroyed galore different structures.

The lights were inactive connected the trees erstwhile the winds began successful January, but respective strings were broken. Most of the association’s instrumentality survived successful retention bins contempt their proximity to different structures that burned.

In November 2024, Christmas Tree Lane volunteers Casty Fortich, from left, and Temple City High School pupil Patience Cam effort to plaything strands of lights onto 1 of the monolithic deodar cedars that enactment the road, portion unpaid Feli Hernandez, acold right, waits with different strand. In the center, Scott Wardlaw offers proposal and encouragement.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Things didn’t spell truthful good for Christmas Tree Lane’s longtime Santa, Jim Vitale. The 1905-era home, wherever helium and his wife, creator Dale LaCasella, had lived since 1993, burned on with each their belongings.

Despite the aftermath of the fire, the longtime volunteers for the relation volition beryllium backmost this twelvemonth astatine the festival, adjacent though they present unrecorded 25 miles eastbound successful La Verne. Vitale and LaCasella started playing Santa and Mrs. Claus, respectively, for the wintertime festival astir 15 years ago.

Jim Vitale sits successful his surviving country wearing his idiosyncratic Santa Claus costume successful 2023, astir 13 months earlier his location and costume pieces were destroyed successful the Eaton fire.

(Dale LaCasella)

Vitale’s elaborate Santa costume, including his 130-year-old strand of brass sleigh bells and hand-carved belt, were each destroyed successful the fire, on with LaCasella’s handmade green-and-red felt elf shoes and vest.

“We managed to permission the tract with 2 cars, 2 laptops, our feline and the apparel connected our backs,” Vitale said. “All our buildings, my [backyard] winery, my wife’s workplace successful our aged carriage house, my room with 10,000 volumes astir architecture and the past of California ... each gone.”

LaCasella, a retired attorney, said she and her hubby decided against rebuilding “because we’re excessively old. I’m astir 80 and I decided I couldn’t hold 2 years successful immoderate impermanent location” until the location was rebuilt. But she’s inactive precise progressive successful her aged assemblage arsenic the president of the elder center, which was destroyed successful the fire.

She drives into Altadena a fewer days a week to thatch creation classes and assistance find a caller spot for the seniors to conscionable until the halfway tin beryllium rebuilt.

Vitale, a retired location inspector and accessibility specializer for the state, is engaged reassembling Santa costume parts. He has played Santa for years astatine assorted locations successful Southern California, including Riverside’s Mission Inn, but his daylong unpaid stint arsenic Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane Santa is dearest to his heart.

Jim Vitale and his wife, Dale LaCasella, sojourn the barren remains of their Altadena beforehand gait successful August, 7 months aft their 1905 Craftsman location and outbuildings were destroyed by the Eaton fire. They judge they’re excessively aged to rebuild, and present unrecorded successful La Verne, 25 miles east.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

“As agelong arsenic I tin inactive locomotion and talk, and whether I unrecorded successful La Verne oregon wherever, I’ll volition ever beryllium their Santa until the Lord says, ‘Hang it up,’” Vitale said. “It’s for the emotion of Altadena and the past down Altadena. You spot different [communities] wherever radical aren’t talking to each different and they person walls each around, but that’s not what Altadena and Christmas Tree Lane are about. It’s astir talking to your neighbors and welcoming people. There’s conscionable a consciousness of pridefulness you don’t spot successful different places, and I privation to sphere that past and that feeling.”

It’s hard to pinpoint what makes Christmas Tree Lane’s bare-bone airy show truthful popular. Visitors won’t acquisition immoderate flashing lights, dancing elves oregon blaring carols. It’s conscionable a quiescent thrust beneath a adjacent mile of stately cedars bedecked with strings of multicolor lights.

“I deliberation the simplicity is what truly draws people,” Arevalo said. “That and the tradition. ... We’re a humanities landmark, and I deliberation radical conscionable emotion the tiny municipality feel. When you’re driving through, it seems similar you’re retired successful the woods somewhere, not successful a city. It conscionable feels magical.”

A vintage postcard bearing a 1947 postmark, from Times writer and columnist Patt Morrison’s collection, tells the communicative of Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane. If that twelvemonth was the 22nd lighting, past the 100-year day successful 2025 is rapidly approaching.

Christmas Tree Lane attracts thousands of visitors each year, who dilatory thrust for astir a mile nether a quiescent canopy of monolithic cedar branches and lights. “I deliberation the simplicity is what truly draws people,” said unpaid coordinator Mikayla Arevalo.

(Los Angeles Times)

But creating that magic requires weeks of strenuous work, Arevalo said. Volunteers typically commencement stringing lights the 2nd play of September, but the commencement day hasn’t been acceptable yet this twelvemonth due to the fact that the relation is inactive trying to finalize its required permits with the county.

Volunteers enactment each Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon until the enactment is finished, usually by aboriginal November. The workers cheque and regenerate the ample integrative bulbs connected the agelong strings of lights and past usage pulleys and hoists to bent and sometimes musculus those agelong strands of faceted lights onto the branches.

This year, workers volition besides request to assemble caller 15-foot-strands of lights due to the fact that galore were breached during the windstorm that fueled the Eaton fire, Wardlaw said. Volunteers request to beryllium astatine slightest property 13 to help. Many section precocious schoolhouse students are regular volunteers astatine the light-stringing sessions and gain the 40 unpaid hours they request to graduate.

That’s however Warren and Isabelle Skidmore’s household got progressive galore years ago, erstwhile their daughters Hannah, 19, and Tessa, 17, started helping arsenic freshmen astatine John Muir High School. Ultimately, the girls earned much than 400 unpaid hours, chiefly from moving connected Christmas Tree Lane.

Hannah Skidmore, 19, left, and her sister, Tessa, 17, person been devoted, longtime volunteers of Christmas Tree Lane and mean to proceed this twelvemonth though their Altadena location was destroyed successful the Eaton fire. They present unrecorded successful Sierra Madre until their puerility location tin beryllium rebuilt.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

Initially, they showed up conscionable to get their hours, Hannah said. But they soon came to recognize that the enactment they were doing was continuing a contented they had loved arsenic small kids — and taken for granted, ne'er realizing however galore radical it requires twelvemonth aft twelvemonth to marque it happen.

“When you spot thousands of radical amusement up [for the lighting ceremony], it feels bully to cognize you helped marque it happen,” Hannah said.

Tessa said she was initially motivated to enactment successful each those other hours for the situation of earning the 200-hour unpaid medallion offered astatine the precocious school, but by the end, she said, “We were doing it for the emotion of being connected the lane.”

It’s not similar the Skidmores aren’t busy. Their location — the lone location the girls person ever known — was 1 of immoderate 6,000 destroyed successful the Eaton fire, truthful present the household is fundamentally camping retired successful a Sierra Madre flat until their location tin beryllium rebuilt. Warren, an astrophysicist, is acting arsenic the subcontractor for their rebuilding project, but helium besides accepted a caller occupation successful Hawaii close aft the occurrence arsenic lawman manager of NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility astatine the University of Hawaii.

Warren comes location to Altadena arsenic galore weekends arsenic helium tin manage, but Isabelle said she stayed successful Sierra Madre to beryllium his “boots connected the ground,” making definite the assorted jobs are completed, portion their daughters spell to schoolhouse astatine Pasadena City College.

Isabelle Skidmore, left, her husband, Warren, and their 2 daughters Hannah, 19, (in the tree) and Tessa, 17, person been longtime volunteers for Christmas Tree Lane and mean to proceed this year.

(Marcus Ubungen / For The Times)

Tessa, who was the valedictorian astatine John Muir High School successful June (see her code present starting astatine 45:40), entered assemblage arsenic a sophomore due to the fact that of each the assemblage credits she earned successful precocious schoolhouse (“I similar challenging myself,” she said). Tessa wants a vocation successful transgression justice, and Hannah is an aspiring graphic creator and instrumentalist who plays bass successful a section band, Exit 23.

Despite their schedules, uncovering clip to enactment connected Christmas Tree Lane feels much important than ever this year, Tessa and Hannah said, due to the fact that they recognize the contented could person been mislaid on with truthful galore different things destroyed successful the fire.

Hannah said 1 of her and her sister’s archetypal thoughts aft the occurrence was astir the destiny of Christmas Tree Lane.

“I conscionable deliberation this community, Altadena, is truthful special,” Hannah said. “It’s similar what Joni Mitchell says, ‘You don’t cognize what you person until it’s gone.’ That’s wherefore we’re truthful tight-knit, adjacent though we’ve been truthful dispersed. We cognize what we had, and that’s wherefore it’s truthful invaluable to us.”