An ever-growing tree

A retired carpenter adds more lights and height to his Christmas decoration every year.

By BETH N. GREY, Times Correspondent
Published December 22, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Ron Thompson | Times] Frank Ferrell's Christmas tree soars 58 feet into the air in his Spring Hill frontyard. He has added 10 feet to the tree every year and has plans to go up again next year.

SPRING HILL - Higher than church steeples, above the roof line of Oak Hill Hospital not far away, Frank Ferrell's two-dimensional tree of lights soars 58 feet into the air.

It may well be the tallest Christmas decoration constructed in Hernando County. Certainly, it is one of the most original ones.

"I just wanted to do a Christmas tree," shrugged the 71-year-old retired carpenter who also dabbled in electrical construction.

"Every year it's gotten bigger," he admitted last week, looking upward at the variegated lights from the front yard of his singlewide mobile home off Ridge Road, an eastern turn off U.S. 19.

He began with a 20-footer five years ago, 25 feet wide at the base, wearing just 20 strands of lights.

"The tree frame is made out of thin-walled electrical conduit," he explained. Wrapped around the frame are 8,700 lights, green in outline, various colors crisscrossing between. A lighted white star with a blue corona tops it.

Ferrell and his wife, Judith, turn on the lights daily, just pre-dusk. They can be seen from U.S. 19. For a closer view, follow the illumination to Ridge Road and turn right on Serene Street.

The couple's son, Ronald Ferrell of Whitesville, near Gainesville, helped string the lights.

The whole construction weighs about 800 pounds. Ferrell placed pulleys into one of a quartet of tall pine trees in his yard. The lithe and agile construction worker cat-walked up the tree himself with the aid of a pole-climbing rig, and attached stout ropes.

Back on the ground, he tied the ropes to his pickup truck and pulled steadily. Once in the air, the huge triangle was anchored with ropes to the other nearby pines. And its leader is attached to a hefty board in the treetop.

As the tree has grown, Ferrell has added some handling aids. This year he can dismantle it into five pieces with an assortment of hinge installations.

But maintenance problems can and do crop up. One day, the star blinked out. Without any other way to troubleshoot the problem, Ferrell was left with one choice.

He climbed 58 feet up, again shimmying up the pine tree. He managed to fix the problem, and once again, his creation was back to brilliance.

Beth Gray can be contacted at graybethn@earthlink.net.

By the numbers

8,700 lights wrapped around the frame.

800 pounds, the weight of the entire construction.

58 feet, the height of Frank Ferrell's outdoor Christmas tree.

[Last modified December 21, 2007, 20:46:16]