The annual planting in the sand of Ocean Beach’s crooked Christmas tree, reflecting the community’s quirky bent, took place on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

But something is different this year: The tree is not leaning left, as usual. Or is it?

Which way it’s “actually” leaning depends entirely on your perspective, contends Ken Moss, a community volunteer. For years, Moss has chaired the committee responsible for selecting, putting up, and taking down the community’s cherished tree at the foot of Newport Avenue.

“It leans in all directions,” said Moss of this year’s Christmas tree. He added: “All I have to do is hop over the seawall, go to the other side, stand where the waves are breaking, and it will be leaning to the left. It just depends on your point of view.”

Regardless of which way OB’s Christmas tree leans, it is a centerpiece of the community in December kicking off the community’s holiday celebration.

Moss noted there are a few misconceptions about OB’s Christmas tree. One is that it is free. “It costs a lot of money,” pointed out Moss adding, “We ask for donations to defray the cost of a ‘free’ event.”

Moss explained the process by how the tree gets selected – and planted – every year, which begins with finding a suitable tree somewhere within the Peninsula, usually in OB proper.

“Word gets out, people start hearing about it and sending in pictures saying, ‘Here’s my tree,’” said Moss noting his first step in reviewing one of the “candidates” is to “look at it first.”

Not every candidate qualifies or comes near, noted Moss. “Some of these trees are just ones they want to be cut down and off their property, not something you’d like as a Christmas tree,” he said pointing out that “true” traditional Christmas trees only grow at higher elevations. “Many of the ones (pines) down here (coastal) don’t have needles on them, just long, 4-inch floppy things,” he noted.

But, Moss concluded, they always find one – or more – suitable Christmas tree candidates. “We stockpiled two trees out of five this year, which were good choices,” he said. “One is sitting there for next year.”

This year’s crooked tree – a 40-foot tall star pine – was donated by a family on Muir Avenue.

Every year, the chosen pine gets cut down by arborists and, using a huge crane, is hoisted onto a truck and driven down to Newport Avenue with the police coming out to make sure it’s done safely. Then the crane puts it in a hole in the sand at Newport and Abbott, moving it around to make sure it’s stable before it gets decorated.

Regarding planting the tree, Moss noted there’s a special spot buried in the same spot in the sand each year. “We dig it out and there’s a place to put the tree in,” he said. “When it’s [planted] a sand berm is created around the tree, hopefully to protect it and keep the high tides out.”

After the holidays in early January, the City chops the tree up and hauls it off to a green yard for proper disposal.

ORIGIN OF OB’S TREE

In the fall of 1980, brothers Ron and Rich of the local James Gang printers family were having a few beers at the Sunshine Company Saloon when they began talking about what could be done to continue the positive community spirit for the upcoming Christmas holidays. Rich mentioned the famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City and thought maybe OB could have its own community Christmas tree. As the story goes, and as the James brothers talked – and drank more – the proposed tree grew from 20- to 60 feet tall.

The next morning Rich began making phone calls to find out how someone could get a 60-foot tree. He finally found the people who supplied Disneyland with its giant Christmas tree and made an order. A committee was formed and money was raised to pay for the tree and the lights by mainly selling commemorative T-shirts.

To save cost, Rich talked a friend into taking his semi-truck to Mt. Shasta to pick up the tree, and they returned to OB with a stunning 70-foot star pine to grace the beach at the foot of Newport Avenue. A few days after the tree had arrived, Rich went to numerous bars up and down Newport and handed out kazoos to his many friends. They then assembled in front of Pacific Shores, where Rich led them down the middle of the street to the tree, while they hummed Christmas carols on their kazoos, and a Christmas tradition was born.