KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE: Man’s family shows off century-old Christmas tradition

By Mikenzie Hammel

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    SHEBOYGAN, Wisconsin (WTMJ) — Christmas is a big deal in the Schermetzler household…to say the least.

Grandpa Dave’s yearly project is to set up over 600 individual pieces around the perimeter of the tree.

“We don’t ever remember it not being set up at our home when I was young,” Dave’s wife Renae said. “My grandfather started it.”

That was almost 100 years ago — humble beginnings nowhere near 600 pieces.

The tradition was passed on to Dave and Renae who’ve added water features, moving parts, and twinkling lights to the display.

“When we were young girls, we said ‘Well, one of us will have to marry an electrician so that we get the Christmas tree,’” Renae remembered. “I was the lucky one that married an electrician.”

The rule is that no one sees the tree before Christmas Day.

Dave and Renae’s son Ted emailed me saying I had to check it out for myself. They were willing to break the rule for me.

“They’d close off the living room for about four days, and my brothers and I would go crazy because that was the place we played when we were kids,” Ted recalled.

Some of the family’s favorite sets include a ski lift, nativity scene, farm, and mill wheel.

“It’s roughly 40 hours of set-up time,” Dave explained. “When we lay everything out it has to be perfect or it won’t fit.”

Every piece is intentional. Some were picked out to commemorate family vacations or favorite camping spots.

The Schermetzlers collect live moss for the outdoor scenes. Dave waters it every day to keep it green.

The tree stand is made from an old tree stump found at Lake Michigan decades ago.

“Grandpa got the stump on the beach for they didn’t have any money to buy a tree stand,” Renae recited from a piece of paper.

On it are handwritten memories that keep the tradition’s history alive.

“Before my grandma passed, she’d come and see it and you could just see it in her eye that she loved the tree,” Ted said.

The grandchildren have come to love the tradition too, each season trying to spot which piece is new.

More than anything, the family says it’s a way to keep everyone together for the holidays.

“I think there are a lot of people who have things similar to this but nothing that’s been going on this long. This is pushing 100 years old,” Ted explained. “ I think very few have the tradition…the history behind it where it’s been passed from generation to generation.”

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