Meet Downtown Hillsboro's Holiday Tree!

Last Updated 12/8/2022 • in FEED: HDP Results, FEED: Neighborhood News, FEED: Destination Downtown, partnerships, cutivation, events, activation, Hillsboro Downtown Partnership, main street, cultivation, collaboration, Hillsboro , HDP, placemaking, celebration, trees, newsworthy, culture, collaborative, storytelling, community, Holly Days, 2nd avenue, living, holiday tree, placekeeping

Hillsboro was in need of a Holiday Tree and Fall was upon us. Several leads for wonderful trees had fallen through and we were starting to think outside the box. Luckily staff at the Hillsboro Downtown Partnership love community building AND the great outdoors. Did you know both our Executive Director and the Outreach Coordinator used to be park rangers? It is true!

One park near and dear to our hearts is LL Stub Stewart State Park located just 30 minutes from Downtown Hillsboro in Buxton, Oregon. Coincidentally, the park is in the midst of a forest management project and rather than processing every tree, they decided to donate one to the Hillsboro community.

One foggy morning in early November, Hillsboro Downtown Partnership staff made the short drive up to the park to meet park manager Aaron. Together they found a beautiful 32.5' Douglas Fir tree slated for removal located right outside Hares Canyon Horse Camp. One week before the annual Hillsboro Holly Days Celebration, the tree was carefully removed from the forest and installed at the Civic Center Plaza with the help of the City of Hillsboro and IBEW 125.

The last project for Hillsboro Downtown Partnership to complete was to decorate the tree. Lights, oversized ornaments, ribbons and a huge star topped the tree. In all, it took over 4 days and lots of help from HDP staff members (without fear of heights). We were so fortunate that the weather was beautiful for the entire week before and into the annual Hillsboro Holly Days Celebration.

If you love this year's Hillsboro holiday tree, you'll love LL Stub Stewart State Park, Washington County's only Oregon State Park. Thanks Oregon State Parks for being a great partner!