{"id":5298,"date":"2014-12-03T21:33:53","date_gmt":"2014-12-04T04:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=5298"},"modified":"2014-12-03T21:33:53","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T04:33:53","slug":"winter-welcome-dancing-tree-goes-up-in-flames-during-smoke-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=5298","title":{"rendered":"Winter Welcome Dancing Tree Goes Up in Flames During Smoke Break"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"DancingChristmasTrees\"<\/a>The 2014 Winter Welcome was fortunate to have great weather and a nice turnout. Families flocked to the town center to see the tree lighting, eat s\u2019mores, and enjoy a beverage as they walked around to see Stapleton friends. There were also reindeer for the kids to see and free cookies if you could find the right booth. An ancillary attraction was the \u201cdancing trees.\u201d The trees bounced around, shaking peoples\u2019 hands, and asking people if they were \u201ctree huggers.\u201d Kids seemed entertained and intrigued by the dancing trees.\n\n\u201cMy kids thought they were kind of scary,\u201d says festival goer Christine McCoy. \u201cThey talked, which was kind of creepy, but maybe it would be more creepy if they didn\u2019t talk. I\u2019m just not sure.\u201d Kaylynn Dellert agrees. \u201cI don\u2019t know why, but the trees kind of weirded me out this year,\u201d says Dellert. \u201cI did see a lot of kids running over to them, so maybe it was just my family that was somewhat put off by them.\u201d\nSarah Lehman disagrees. \u201cI thought the trees added a lot to the festival,\u201d says Lehman. \u201cThey looked like they were having fun, and they seemed to always be surrounded by kids trying to get a hug. So, I guess I am pro-dancing tree at the Winter Welcome.\u201d Because of all of the attention from the hundreds of kids, the dancing trees do need to take breaks. \u201cI mean, you are talking all the time, and trying to be happy,\u201d says dancing tree #1 one who preferred to remain anonymous for the article. \u201cYou need a break or you are going to go crazy.\u201d\nWith only about a half hour left in the official festivities, the two trees decided to go on their final break. \u201cWe needed one last quick moment so we could end the evening with a bang,\u201d said dancing tree #1. \u201cMy partner (dancing tree #2) kind of forgets what he is even there for, and goes to light up a cigarette. Before I had a chance to knock it out of his hand\u2026well, most people know what happened next.\u201d\nWhat happened was that dancing tree #2 shot up in flames. Parents were screaming, and kids began crying. Fearing for his own life, dancing tree #1 stayed away from dancing tree #2. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just about me,\u201d says dancing tree #1. \u201cHad I jumped on him and caught on fire, well now we have two things to worry about burning the town center down.\u201d Some helpful citizens tried throwing their hot chocolate on Christmas tree #2, but that did little to put out the flame.\nFinally, a couple residents brought the tree to the ground and rolled him in the remaining snow until the fire was out. \u201cIt was pretty scary,\u201d says dancing tree #1. \u201cLuckily, we actually wear fire retardant suits underneath, so he was okay. Aside from the hot chocolate burns. Those may be there forever. But the fire, well, that had little affect on him.\u201d MCA officials are not saying whether or not dancing trees will be back next year. I say, why not? They were a pretty hot item this year.\n]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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