Remember the Christmas Weed
Even though we are 4 days past Christmas, I thought I would talk about a past Christmas that was so very Toledo: The Christmas Weed.
Before getting into the details of that phenomonon, I wanted to mention why I am reminded of an event from 2 years ago. For me the connection is Nashville. In 2018, I spent the holidays in Nashville, connecting with friends. It was an awesome trip and a wonderful way to spend the holidays. In 2020, in a very 2020 way, on Christmas day there was a suicide bombing in Nashville. While there is distruction of a city block, the quick thinking of the first responders prevented the loss of additional lives.
In 2018, I walked the streets where this years explosion happened. At the same time in Toledo, I missed the enjoyment of a groundswell activity around the Christmas Weed.
What is the Christmas Weed?
If you want to read or hear about the weed, you can visit the story on the local ABC affiliate - Channel 13 or the newspaper, The Toledo Blade. For the national press you can go to NPR, The Washington Post, or even visit the weed’s Facebook page. Local authors Nick Rokicki and Joseph Kelley (and illustrator Ronaldo Florendo wrote a children’s book The Christmas Weed. And new this year, an (not-local) author Alayne Kay Christian decided to write a children’s book about the story called The Weed That Woke Christmas: The Mostly True Tale of the Toledo Christmas Weed.
Here is my version of the story.
It began with a lonely weed on the intersection of Secor and Alexis, a busy intersection in most years, especially with holiday shoppers. A weed spung up in the triangle raised crosswalk pavement between the turn lane and the main lanes. One day, a family decided to decorate the weed and eventually, more and more people added to the growing decorations on the public spot. Santa Claus arrived, followed by tons of folks singing and celebrating, while drivers honked and were cheerful. The mayor honored the Christmas Weed with a proclaimation. And our favorite local t-shirt shop produced a shirt, collected donations from the sale of the shirt, and gave money to local charities. Because I am slow, was away during much of the hubaloo in 2018, and love a bargin, I bought my partner the comorative t-shirt this year from JupMode.
The Christmas Weed T-Shirt from JupMode
How far we in Toledo have come from 2018. Covid has prevented people gathering in groups like they did for the Christmas Weed. The country seems even more divided from politics and racism and overall depression. The community in Toledo is also divided and a bit broken, with a high rate of gun violence and drug overdoses. The death of a man on Christmas in Nashville in an explosion seems very inline for 2020. But, we can remember the spirit of 2018 when Toledo came together to celebrate and enjoy the little weed.