On Saturday January 7th, the City Christmas Tree in front of the Civic Center in downtown Clovis fell over on its side due to the rain and wind gusts that have been recently affecting the Central Valley.
Not used to this sort of weather, the City of Clovis parks staff were forced to come to the Center on Sunday morning in order to reraise the tree back up in its original state, a feat that hasn’t had to be completed in recent memory.
According to City staff, the tree will now be staked down into the ground in order to attempt to prevent another fall, and to hold the tree in position from any future gusts of wind. The City staff’s Facebook page then warned against another round of wet weather coming the week of 1/9-1/15.
During the City Manager comments section of Monday’s City Council meeting, City Manager John Holt explained that while he was on vacation the past week, he did not notice that the tree had fallen down until Saturday night. He then relayed to the council that on Sunday for a few hours, the parks crew worked to stand the tree upright.
“I was so proud of the crew and then today came,” explained Holt as upon once again examining the tree outside of City Hall, it was determined that the damage to the tree itself would not allow for it to be used again in 2023.
With more extreme weather for Central Valley residents on the horizon, the City of Clovis hopes that the Christmas tree is one of the only, if not the only, casualty of the storm season.