A unique Christmas tree has adorned the window of a Topeka Tilton home every year for more than six decades.

Nell Robbins saw a special tree in a store window somewhere and really liked it. So she decided to try it at home, said her granddaughter Lisa Daniels. 

“It’s not your typical Christmas tree,” said Daniels. 

Robbins found out the tree was a sweet gum, wrapped in cotton to look like it has fallen snow on its branches.

“Because the bark is a little rough, the cotton will stick to it. We go and chop down a sweet gum tree — it’s got to have the Christmas tree shape — then we get cotton batting, cut it into strips, and wrap each limb to make it look like snow,” Daniels said. 

Robbins involved her daughter, Donna Upton, in the yearly tradition, and Upton continued it after Robbins’ death in 1998. 

“My mom was the only girl she had. She also had three boys,” said Daniels. “My mom inherited the task, and I know my grandmother would be so proud that we’ve continued it on.”

Upton’s daughters, Daniels and Nikki Pierce, have helped their mother wrap the limbs each Christmas season. 

“It looked natural,” Daniels said. “It looked like a snowy tree, but it began to represent to her [my grandmother] as the purity of Christ, and the red balls to represent the blood He shed for us. It became intertwined with our faith, and my mom continued that same tradition teaching that.”

Upton is battling lung cancer, and her family knows 2024 may be the last year they carry on this tradition with their mother involved. 

“This is possibly our last Christmas with her. It’s made us stop and realize how important it is to spend time with our loved ones, because we let our lives get so busy, and we take it for granted that they’ll always be there,” Daniels said. “It’s made us treasure time as a gift, for sure.”

Daniels has one daughter, and the 15-year-old helped prepare the tree this Christmas.

“She will probably not carry it on, because it is a ton of work. It took me a week to get it wrapped,” said Daniels. “She helped me wrap, and she knew that it’s very, very special to my momma this year, so it was an emotional thing for us.”

Located in the middle of the Topeka Tilton community of Lawrence County, the tree can be seen in the same home where it has stood for more than 60 years, at the intersection of Hwy. 27 and Hwy. 44, in front of Topeka Tilton School.

“People in town call us before Thanksgiving and ask us if we’re going to have it this year, every year,” Daniels said. “It’s in the same place it’s always been … so it’s kind of like the community Christmas tree. It’s unique.”

The family appreciates the tradition, the uniqueness, and how special it all is to the community and Upton, and how special it was to Robbins. But it’s more than just a tradition — one thing is most important.

“My grandmother was a very faithful woman to Christ,” Daniels said. “If she didn’t teach us anything else, she wanted to lead us to Christ — even through her Christmas tree. And my mom all these years has done the same thing, and we’re proud of it.”