The Christmas tree greeting passersby at Calafia State Beach in San Clemente is what people want it to be.
For some, it’s the perfect place for a family holiday photo, an oh-so-California backdrop with the ocean, surfers, sand and sunsets to boast about to family and friends in colder climates.
For others, it has become a place to honor beach-loving relatives no longer here for the holidays.
Or perhaps, it’s simply a nice resting spot to soak in some holiday cheer during a trek along a coastal trail that leads to the decorated tree just steps from the sand.
For 11 years, local surfer Debbie Sheldrake-Stetson has propped up a large tree at this beach in the dark of night, a tradition the community looks forward to each year and one that has grown in popularity, as social media helps spread the word.
“Sometimes I want to stop,” Sheldrake-Stetson said with a chuckle while standing next to the tree on a recent day. “It’s just become so huge and they look forward to it.”
Exactly who “they” are is mostly unknown, with strangers coming down to put decorations on the tree each year. Some have personalized messages or clues about who left the decoration. Others are simple – such as a small wood branch adorned with colorful ribbons.
“Isn’t this so cute?” she asked while cradling the branch. “It’s handmade, I love it, this is one of my favorite ones.”
Sheldrake-Stetson, who years ago lived near Santa Barbara, first put a small tree at the surf break Rincon 20 years ago, when her daughter was two years old.
“It was as tall as she was, it only fit two ornaments,” she said. “Now, it’s as tall as a two-story building.”
When she made San Clemente her home, she was saddened by the lack of holiday spirit at her favorite beach, Calafia, a place just south of the San Clemente Pier where she searched the sand for seaglass for her jewelry business, San Clemente Sea Glass.
So one day she brought a tree down to the sand, standing it up in a small hole she found between rocks.
For four years, the tree was right on the sand, but some years it was hauled off by beach maintenance crews or stolen in the dark of night. So she found a spot on the steps leading down to the beach, next to the railroad, where she could use a bike lock to affix the tree to a sign post.
Each year, the number of ornaments and visitors has grown. “Last year, it was so full there was nowhere to put an ornament,” Sheldrake-Stetson said.
This year, she put aside $110 for the tree, with Blake’s Christmas Tree lot in Dana Point matching her donation to get a 9- to 10-footer off the lot.
She has bags full of ornaments left through the years, and starts the tree off each year with some of her favorites – including bulbs that read “No Toll Road” and others with personalized touches, mementos that mean something to someone.
“I tried to pick the most special ones. I’m sorry if I left some of the special ones off, I have so many ornaments I don’t know what to do with them. I’d like them to go to a needy family,” she said.
“They are just floating around in my car right now. I have probably four bags full of ornaments.”
On a recent day, Sheldrake-Stetson added her own ornament – an owl – and pointed out some of her favorites that adorn the tree.
She cradled a white angel to showcase its beauty. “She’s just so pretty,” she said. “She just represents Christmas.”
Others have brought memorials down, to honor family or friends who have passed away.
“The tree means to you what you want it to mean,” Sheldrake-Stetson said. “It just touches me. That’s why I still do it, it has become so big. I like hiding up in my car watching people take pictures.”
One ornament is filled with crayons that have melted in the sun, making a rainbow of colors with the signature “Hana 2015.” One person, who simply signs “SK,” adds an ornament each year.
“See the baby?” she said, pointing to a picture on her phone of two kids next to the tree, one of many she’s collected of people posing with it. “The baby is now 9.”
There are some things Sheldrake-Stetson asks of the community who come down to add to the tree: don’t use anything glass, for fear it will break, and try to double wrap the string so ornaments stay tight on the tree when the wind blows.
“I have to be responsible with the tree in order to keep doing it,” she said.
And if you happen to have a bucket on your beach outing, try to give the tree a bit of love to keep it alive.
“If people come down and they can water it – not with saltwater – there’s a shower there,” she said, pointing to the nearby beach concession. “This is the community’s tree.”
