The Beloved United College Spruce Tree: From Tradition to Artwork

Planting the Roots  

Here's a little rundown on the history of the tree. In 1963, when United College first opened its doors to students, trees were planted around the building. Among them was a spruce tree outside Watson’s, visible from the cafeteria. Over the years, the tree grew to approximately 25-30 feet tall, sparking the tradition of decorating it during the winter months.   

Since the tree was huge and perfectly located, visible from inside the College, the tradition of lighting the tree for the holidays was born. The University of Waterloo’s maintenance team would provide hundreds of multi-colored lights each year in early December, just before exams and in time for the final community dinner. Students would hang paper snowflakes, tinsel, and more lights to make it their own. The tree was lit every night. 

Though the tradition started with leaving the lights up year-round, local squirrels took vengeance on their tree in the warmer months by chewing through the cords, resulting in a winter-only light show. Brown shares that the lights on the tree were spectacular, comparing it to the Rockefeller Center Tree (almost, but not quite, Brown adds). The tree was so grand it could be seen from the University’s Ring Road. 

What was to Become of the Beloved Tree?

While the construction of the Green Wing was accepted, some students were sad about the loss of the tree. Students and dons were excited for more rooms and a new space for GreenHouse. This feedback motivated Brown to preserve the wood and have it milled for use in a future project.

In collaboration with an artist from St. Jacobs, Artefacts, the art we have today was born. Brown shares; "anything small wouldn’t have worked; it’s a big wall, so we needed something big." And he did just that. Having art around the College was important to Brown; from this artwork to the pieces in the Jackman Reading Room, it all tells a story and cements a community in time. The artwork shows sunlight with the milled wood radiating as rays from a copper centre, representing the sun's rays.  

Current United College principal Rick Myers, who was appointed just two weeks after Green Wing construction began, shares how the artwork bridges the past and present. “United College is a living entity with new students being continually replaced by other students, never-ending. The tree and artwork is a great metaphor for the College; it’s an organic entity with a past, present, and future.”

United College alumnus, AJ Wray (BES’18), was lucky enough to see the tree in full living splendor as well as in artwork form. 

“It was the perfect Christmas tree,” Wray shared. Not only did students and staff think it was perfect, but so did the geese. Wray reminisced about how one time, during his first year, a goose was trying to nest in the tree, and we know how geese are, so in hopes of reclaiming the tree, a brave don went forward with a hockey stick in hand. The goose was unharmed, but the hockey stick was launched into the tree. Goose 1, United 0. 

United Through Tradition

While the tree lighting was a cherished memory for many, it was just one of many that fostered United College's unique community spirit. Brown’s decision to repurpose the tree into art was a testament to this spirit.

The community aspect fostered at United is not something you get elsewhere, shares Wray.  Dons get to know you, the staff, and the employees, and it becomes your community. “The College has done a good job at showing community over the decades, the place has history and has kept it. The walls in Alumni Hall show that story, this artwork shows that it is the people and traditions that keep the history preserved.”  

An important aspect of United College is the small, tight-knit community that is fostered. Through traditions such as toast time and the annual Blackforest Coffee House talent show, a new community is built each term, but the memories from these traditions are shared and kept through generations of United students.

Myers encourages current and future students to create traditions and memories that are special and unique to their time at the College. “Students remember those, and colleges are built around traditions.”