From The Tribune staff reports
TRUSSVILLE — When it comes to the holiday spirit, one Trussville woman is sure to work as hard as an elf every year to bring smiles to friends and family. Beverly Cross has 32 Christmas trees in her home.
Among themes for the trees are a food tree, a USA tree, an angel tree, an Elvis tree and several movie-themed trees. The new tree this year is “Home Alone.”
The tradition started when her children were young. Her two daughters, Bevan and Ansley, would pick a themed Christmas tree every year. Now that they are grown, Cross is continuing the tradition and each year, her collection gets bigger.
Cross also has several themed Christmas Villages. She stores all of her trees in a POD. She takes the ornaments off of the trees but keeps them standing in the storage unit. Then, she has it delivered to her house every October.
“Usually, I put a tree up on Halloween night,” said Cross. “There have been times I have been handing out candy and decorating a Christmas tree.”
Cross’ favorite movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life”. On the themed tree she has representing the movie, Cross has an ornament signed by Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu Bailey in the 1946 classic.
There is also a d0g-themed tree that displays something very close to Cross’ heart.
“It has all of our dogs that we’ve had and every time I foster a dog, they get an ornament for the tree,” Cross said.
There is also an “Elf” tree. Buddy the Elf can be seen in the tree and a lot of the ornaments on the tree Cross made herself. In fact, she said he does that a lot and has to get creative at times.
“We used the little syrup bottles from Cracker Barrel,” said Cross. “I just happened to order pancakes and I noticed the bottle looked just like the one Buddy pulled out of his sleeve in the movie. I am always trying to come up with some kind of idea.”
There is a “Christmas Vacation” tree and Cross hopes to soon get her hands on the “Christmas Vacation” village to add to her collection.
A tree favorite among friends is Cross’ “The Grinch” tree.
“Everyone loves the Grinch tree,” Cross said. “There is like 504 ornaments just on the Grinch. It used to be two feet tall and now it’s 12 feet tall.”
A unique part of the Grinch tree is the tree topper. It is actually another smaller tree decorated as a topper.
Other themed trees are “A Christmas Story”, a snowman, a nativity, a nutcracker, ugly Christmas sweater, Hewitt-Trussville High School, Auburn University, the University of Alabama, and breast cancer awareness.
There is also a community tree that allows visitors to place an ornament on when they come to visit. There is a basket under the tree full of ornaments to choose from.
Cross made a video three years ago showing all of the trees throughout her house. The video and more photos can be viewed below.