Cardboard Christmas Tree Gets Mixed Reviews in New Jersey Town

Every year, workers put up a big, freshly cut evergreen¹ tree in a historic building in Asbury Park, New Jersey² to celebrate Christmas. The Grand Arcade³ at the Convention Hall rises above the town's boardwalk, a walking path along the Atlantic Ocean.

But recently workers put up a very different kind of Christmas Tree in the Arcade. Unlike an evergreen, it requires little care and can never die. That is because the 2021 Christmas Tree is made wholly of a thick and strong paper material called cardboard. When the winter holidays end, the "tree" is to be recycled.

The tree's creators sought to honor elements of Asbury Park's natural environment, cityscape and rich musical history.

Opinions on the tree are mixed.

"I like that it's different...It's pretty interesting," said local man Chris Trifari. He lives in Neptune⁴, a neighboring town.

Local Elizabeth Khimitch offered similar praise. "I think it's very creative." She had come to the Grand Arcade to take pictures of her dogs in front of the tree.

Others on the boardwalk were not as pleased by the tree.

Anthony Solimando said it looked "like an Amazon package."

"Not a fan," added Amy Mackey. "Asbury has conformed into this artsy town, but tradition is tradition! This is art, and I wouldn't take my child's picture in front of this tree. Can't we just have our traditional tree?"

The change came about this year when the city's art community contacted Madison Marquette, the private owner of the Asbury Park boardwalk. They asked about creating a Christmas tree sculpture for Convention Hall, said Austin Leopold, the manager of the property.

Leopold said the property company "passionately⁵ embraced" the idea for the sculpture. He said it honors the boardwalk's image as a center for Asbury Park's arts and music community.

Michael Lavallee, a local artist who goes by the name Porkchop, created the piece with Brad Hoffer. They call it The Giving Tree.

He said the company told him there would not be a natural Christmas tree at Convention Hall this year.

"I was asked to come in and do something festive⁶-ish," said Porkchop. Festive means celebratory, especially in connection with a holiday.

Porkchop said he did not want to take away anyone's Christmas tree. He added, "If you're not going to give people the big tree they want, some of them are going to hate it. I understand that. But they weren't going to get that traditional Christmas tree anyway."

The piece uses natural and artificial lighting⁷ to darken parts of the tree while shining light on others. In this way, the piece's appearance changes throughout the day.

Amy Quinn is Asbury Park's deputy mayor. Quinn said that the city is not involved in the Convention Hall decisions, but that she likes the piece.

"I love the take that the local artists had on the tree," she said. "I love that it's different. Love it or hate it, people are talking about it."

Words in This Story

package – n. a box or large envelope that is sent or delivered usually through the mail or by another delivery service

conform – v. to do what other people do : to behave in a way that is accepted by most people

passionately – adv. having, showing, or expressing strong emotions or beliefs

artificial – adj. not natural or real : made, produced, or done to seem like something natural

1 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

4 Neptune   

n.海王星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。

5 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

6 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

7 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。