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A few moms in Ocean City, New Jersey, were sitting at the town skatepark, watching their children ride, when they decided to buy a tree and take holiday photos on the beach in 2019.

What began as one tree to brighten spirits turned into a dozen Christmas trees lining the shores from one end of the island to the other, while sprouting a new holiday tradition.

Every November since 2020, Sue McElwee has visited the Eisele’s Tree Farm and picked a tree with wide spacing between the branches so it can handle the wind and salt air. Her children and other locals help carry it down to the beach the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Through the season, which stretches a little past New Year’s Day, neighbors stop by to straighten ornaments, add shells and keep the place tidy. When the trees’ time on the beach is over, they get donated to the animals at the Funny Farm Rescue, where the caretakers say there is something about the salt in the trees that the animals love.

From one tree to a dozen

McElwee remembers how it all began. She, with the help of several others, carried the first tree to North Street, snapped pictures and chose to leave it behind. McElwee wrote her children’s names on clam shells and arranged them in the sand like a skirt around the base.

Within days, the tree had company. More shells appeared. A family stopped by to explain that leaving a shell with a loved one’s name had given them comfort.

“And that was it, their story stuck with me, and I knew I wanted to continue the tradition of putting a Christmas tree on the beach for years to come,” McElwee said.

The following winter, the idea took off with more than 7,000 shells being left at the tree. With the community emerging from the isolation of Covid, the tree offered a safe, open-air space for people to see one another and share a bit of holiday spirit.

“It gave people a safe place outside to see other people again and to really enjoy and appreciate the simple things like a tree on the beach,” McElwee said.

Melanie Stampone, of Oreland, Pennsylvania, quickly followed the North Street tree with one at the very south end of the island at 55th Street. She liked the idea of a safe outdoor activity that offered hope. The tree moved to its current location on 59th due to beach projects, and is donated yearly from Ponderosa Tree Farm.

There were three trees in 2020. Then, three turned to several trees then into a dozen anchored along the shoreline.

“After watching the North Street tree take off, an idea sparked. I posted asking if anyone wanted to help bring a Queens tree to life on the beach,” said Lisa Walsh, founder of OCNJ Queens-Building Community and Fun. “As we planned, I wanted this tradition to carry purpose. Angels in Motion was introduced so we could pair our holiday joy with meaningful outreach.”

From tributes to pets to nods to conservation, from military remembrance to calls for peace, the Christmas trees rising carry a lot of meaning for the community and visitors.

“The tree seems to center all of us and remind us that we really are very similar in many ways,” said Wendy Smith, who partners with Stampone on tree care. “We donated close to 600 pounds of food from this past weekend to The Ecumenical Council of Ocean City. We will most likely have at least two more donations of this amount in the coming weeks as the bins get filled again.”