HADLEY — It was a strange sight: what appeared to be a giant, lit-up, floating Christmas tree being slowly dragged by a boat in the middle of the Connecticut River at dusk on Tuesday evening.
In the light rain and fog, Mark Britton was driving the boat, making slight adjustments to the tree’s position and putting gas in the generator to power the bright red lights strung around the spectacle. Over the weekend, Britton anchored the tree in the river near the Coolidge Bridge on the side of the Mount Holyoke Range.
“It’s not even really a tree; it’s a mast,” said David Lamica, Britton’s partner on the project. “It’s a 16-foot mast with cables wrapped in lights. There are over 5,000 lights on it.” David Lamica and his wife, Amy Lamica, stood on the riverbank watching as Britton tended to the floating tree.
Lamica and his neighbor, Michael Damon, made the structure by cutting a pontoon boat in half and building a 16-foot frame for the lights to hang on. The sight reminded some people of an old tradition: The late Russ Myette, of Northampton, floated a Christmas tree on the Connecticut River around the holidays between the years of 1976 and 1997. Lamica and Damon revived the tradition about a decade ago for several years until Damon started leaving the Valley around the holidays for warmer weather.
Recently, though, the old tradition was revived through a modern platform. “The power of Facebook is what started it again this year,” Lamica said.
On Dec. 5, part of the Gazette’s “A Look Back” column was posted in a Northampton Facebook group. The column item that was shared detailed how, 10 years ago, Lamica and Damon floated a Christmas tree on the Connecticut River as a tribute to Myette.
Lamica then posted on a Facebook page for Connecticut River enthusiasts about the tree tradition, asking if anyone would spearhead a similar effort this year. “This is going to be bait for Mark Britton. I know him well enough — I knew he would bite,” Lamica recalled thinking to himself. Britton replied: “You’re waiting for me to comment aren’t you?”
That’s how Britton and Lamica became partners in this year’s floating tree project. Every day around sunset, Britton goes out in a boat to put about five gallons of gas in the generator.
While Britton goes out in the boat, Lamica watches in Hadley from the riverside backyard of Lewis Bryden, an artist whose home Lamica helps take care of when Bryden spends time in New York City. As Britton worked refueling the regenerator on the water Tuesday evening, Lamica stood by. In case of an emergency, he said, “I’ll stand on land and call 911.” It’s “probably the most dangerous time of the year” to be on the river, Britton said.
The project is not out of character for Britton. “I enjoy doing stuff like this,” he said, “living on the edge.” He spends a lot of time on the river and at his home in Holyoke; he goes big on holiday decorations and has put lights on a tall tree in his yard. “I was that crazy neighbor with a 40-foot bucket truck to set the star on the tree,” he said.
Many people have commented on photos of the tree on Facebook. “I’m on the edge — do I start an Instagram for it?” said Amy Lamica, as she watched Britton drive his boat back to shore on Tuesday evening.
Lamica said one of his neighbors recently called him about the tree: “He said they just didn’t have Christmas spirit this year. Everything changed when they saw that tree floating down the river … It makes so many people happy.”
Next year’s tree will be “bigger and better,” Britton said. “Of course, I’ve got plans for next year.” He dreams of making it solar-powered and putting it on a timer to avoid having to take a trip on the river every night.
These updates would put a new spin on the original tradition. A 2009 Gazette article written by Bob Flaherty shortly after Myette died reads: “In December 1976, Myette and his son, Jim, walked out on the ice, dug out a little hole and wedged a tree in it.”
“People thought he was crazy,” Myette’s grandson Nathan Patten told the Gazette in 2009. “He loved the spirit of Christmas — no other way to explain it.”
It was a hit, the article continued: “The idea, which was thought up on the spot and supposed to be a one-shot deal, became an overnight sensation, then a ritual, with bands and speeches and the firing of his cannon, a 12-pound Mountain Howitzer with a bark like all of Gettysburg.”
“It takes genius to come up with an idea like that,” former Mayor Clare Higgins commented in 2009 on the tree. Myette, of course, enjoyed the lights. “I sit on my dock and let the beauty of the river work its magic,” he told the Gazette.
Referring to Myette, Britton recently wrote on Facebook: “I didn’t know the guy, but I have a feeling we shared common interests, so let the legacy of Russ Myette continue to light the river around the holidays!!”
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com.