The lobster trap Christmas tree will not be erected in the Village of Alma this year.
Fundy-Albert Mayor Robert Rochon says safety was the main concern last year, “Over the years, those lobster traps have become damaged, and a lot of them were crushed to the point where they were no longer really useful. So in 2022 as I understand it, the tree was erected, but actually, some of the traps fell off.”
He adds that last year volunteers, including himself, got together to put the tree up. But when they began piling traps it became fairly evident that the traps weren’t going to work, because many of them had been crushed out of shape. Rochon says the tree was about two-thirds of the way up, and volunteers who were inside the tree trying to put it up were bracing to hold it together, and it started showing signs of caving.
“It became fairly obvious, it was too dangerous to do. So the tree was dismantled, and the traps were piled in a different way. So the traditional tree wasn’t available to be put up last year.”
They began doing research in the summer, looking for ways of a formal design. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to find that in time for the 2024 festive season.
“The goal is to continue our search for a proper design. And then, obviously, because we can’t use the traps that were used in previous years, we’d have to look for alternatives. Either newer traps or purchasing traps, which will probably be expensive. We’re not abandoning the idea, we want to look to see what we can do,” Rochon told our newsroom.
This year’s traditional-style tree with Maritime-inspired decorations is scheduled to be put up later this week, and Mayor Rochon says they’ll be looking for community help for the tree lighting ceremony.
He suggests keeping an eye on social media in the coming days for further information.
