A figure of Santa Claus has been installed in Lismore to help ‘hold-up’ the city’s infamous bent Christmas tree.
The tree – a Cook Pine – gained national media attention last year, being dubbed the worst Christmas tree in the world following criticism on social media.
Lismore’s mayor Jenny Dowell defended the tree at the time, saying it was just ‘a little bent, much like Lismore’.
Just a day after the city unveiled its popular new Christmas tree, made of old bicycles by council’s outdoor staff, the city has today unveiled its latest decorations for the city centre, which cost around $48,000.
With a sense of humour and a nod to the ‘Lismore – Come to the Heart’ brand, the council has installed new heart decorations and the two-metre tall fibreglass Santa to ‘hold up’ the bent tree.
There are also stars and baubles hanging from the canopies of several trees around the CBD block and wreaths at CBD entrances.
The new decorations cost around $48,000 – around half the cost of the previous decorations, which had become old and tired, with many had been eaten by termites.
‘We purchased them through a northern rivers business and tried to find the most cost-effective but attractive solution we could,’ Executive Director Sustainable Development Brent McAlister said.
‘This is the start of an ongoing process to gradually improve the city’s Christmas decorations.
‘We simple do not have the funds to make too big a splash all at once, so we will build on what we have this year in the years to come.
‘We love the idea of carrying the heart theme throughout our Christmas decorations, as the Come to the Heart logo is synonymous with Lismore and it’s a time when we all think about family and love.
‘We hope the community likes what we have tried to do and has a very merry Christmas!’
So a tree with a minor disability is considered an embarrassment even though it can support decorations just as well as any less vertically challenged tree?
Perhaps we should contemplate how that attitude fits with our notion of people with disabilities being considered full contributors to our society.