12/16/2024
The old Hobart Sing-a-Long tree, located directly across the street from Hobart Food Market. Huge thanks to Hayden Wright, of The Wright Carver, who did an amazing job on this carving. Thank you as well to the property owner, Steve Hynes, and Hobart Food Market owners, Warren and Barb Iverson, for paying to have this done.
For a little history on this tree, back in 1964, the people who used to own the property where the tree is located, Jack and Julia Palmer, had recently lost their 24-year-old son, Jerry, in a logging accident and the whole town was devastated. Iver and Dorothy Iverson, then owners of Hobart Food Market, asked Jack and Julia if they would put Christmas lights up on the tree if they paid for them, to help cheer everyone up, so they did, from 1964-1971. Eventually they said they were “too old” to keep doing it and passed the torch to Iver & Dorothy’s son, Warren, and his wife Barb, the current owners of Hobart Food Market. In 1972 they decided to begin having a community Sing-a-Long under the tree in addition to having it decorated. They had song books, then a projector, hay rides and Santa Claus and even a horse-drawn carriage giving rides by a neighbors Black Percherones over the years.
Warren and Barb had the tree decorated and organized the Hobart Community Sing-a-Long from 1972-2014 with the help of Pastor Rob Morris from Hobart Community Church. Barb found out Pastor Rob could sing and asked him to step in and lead us around 1991. With our terrible Washington winters the Sing-a-Long was moved to the church several times over the years when the weather was bad. Eventually, around 2014, Warren and Barb became “too old” to manage it just like their predecessors and a windstorm had also taken out a large portion of the tree on one side. Pastor Rob and all the wonderful volunteers at Hobart Community Church decided not to let the tradition die and have managed it and held it at the church ever since. It’s great because there’s room to sit inside where it’s warm and visit and eat cookies and still hear the music or you can sit outside where they project the words to the music on the side of the church. Singing is usually only for an hour, but visiting with your neighbors afterwards and enjoying cookies and cocoa and cider is just as fun.
We really want to make next year amazing, and get lots of people from the community there! Sam and Luke Breider, owners of Dependable Solutions LLC, and their employee and nephew, Julian Gingrich, rented a crane and decorated the big tree on the church property this year and there was also a Santa Claus this year. If you have ideas, offers, donations, etc for next year, please reach out to Pastor Rob Morris at Hobart Community Church (he’s on Facebook under Robert Morris).
