'Trees of Love': Decorated trees in memory of loved ones make holidays brighter in St. Martins, N.B.

Tabatha Chatterton didn’t expect her personal tribute in St. Martins, N.B., to grow into a community initiative, but she’s glad it did.

“It’s just exploded. People really enjoy going down and walking through and reading tags and remembering people we have lost in our community. It’s just nice,” she says.

The Christmas tree tribute started in February 2019 with the death of Chatterton’s father, Allan Lizotte.

“I find Christmas a hard time of year because I worry about people who are alone, people who go into debt, and really miss the point of Christmas,” explains Chatterton. “So, when I was walking through our decommissioned covered bridge I thought, ‘Wow, wouldn’t this be nice to have a tree in the bridge?’ So, I approached the mayor at that time, who was my mother-in-law, and she got in touch with the Department of Transportation, and they gave us permission to put a tree inside the bridge.”

The Christmas tree tradition in St. Martins, N.B., started in 2019. (Source: Tabatha Chatterton)

That continued for two years. In 2020, Chatterton was gifted lights by a family member in neighbouring Saint John to decorate trees near the harbour. She decided to decorate a public tree with purple lights – her late grandmother’s favourite colour.

Chatterton’s husband suggested others may want to follow her lead: cover a tree in Harbour Park off Main Street in memory of a loved one. Through social media and word of mouth, Chatterton quickly amassed a list of names of people who wanted to take part. In 2021, the first year they expanded the initiative, they decorated 32 trees in honour of a loved one.

“Thirty-two trees decorated by community members in memory of somebody, or just Merry Christmas wishes from their family,” says Chatterton.

It continued to grow from there. 2022 saw 52 trees, 2023 had 72, and this year there are 82. The display is now called ‘Trees of Love.'

The decorated trees in St. Martins, N.B., in 2022. (Source: Tabatha Chatterton)

“It’s grown so much in four or five years, it’s just amazing,” says Chatterton. “There are families down there with the kids running around and playing Christmas music. It’s just so nice to bring so many people in the community together for something like this.”

The trees are decorated by families with donated LED lights, which are then connected by Chatterton and her family to the municipality’s power grid. No ornaments are allowed due to environmental reasons, though some people create commemorative signs to put in front of their tree.

“I’ve had people from other communities like Sussex reach out and want to come down and adopt a tree and decorate it,” says Chatterton.

Municipal support

The mayor of Fundy St. Martins calls the project “amazing.”

“She’s [Chatterton] done a fantastic job down there,” says Jim Bedford. “The lights are absolutely beautiful. You can spend quite a bit of time just walking around through by starting at the lighthouse, going across the road over into the harbour area. It just keeps growing every year.”

The park itself where the ‘Trees of Love’ display is located started being redeveloped in 2023.

“We’ve done the lighthouse all over,” explains Bedford. “We put some walkways in there, picnic tables, and some parking. This spring we’re going to go into Phase Two on the harbour side. We have a new amphitheatre. We’re adding a roundabout so when the tour buses come in, they have a spot where they can drop their passengers of so they can go into the park area.”

Bedford says Chatterton’s family has a “long history” of being “deeply” involved in the town.

“Tabitha and her husband Mike, they just continue on that tradition of being involved and they're great members of the community,” adds Bedford. “I've had people come to me and say, ‘I'd like to have a tree as well’ and I said, ‘Well, we're gonna have to plant some more because there's no more trees to go around!’”

Santa celebrates a decorated Christmas tree in St. Martins, N.B. (Source: Tabatha Chatterton)

Trees of Love 2025

The physical work begins in early November when Chatterton tags the trees with a number association with a family. The lighting will come down in early January, then Chatterton will begin planning for a bigger ‘Trees of Love’ display in late 2025.

“I’ll add them to the list for next year because there’s still lots of trees we can use, but right now I’m not connecting anymore!” she laughs. “I’m really hoping maybe other communities would jump on and adapt the same kind of thing.” 

Click here for more images of Trees of Love.

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