HISTORY OF THE MITTEN TREE

History of the Mitten Tree & Stranger Share our Fire

Researched and written by Erica Birky Rios, she/her/hers
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The Mitten Tree Sunday tradition of decorating a tree with winter clothing and distributing them to people in need is a long one. During Peter Raible’s ministry, Superintendent of the Church School, Elizabeth Cameron, described a similar giving tradition in the Dec. 11, 1959 edition of the church newsletter. She wrote, “The Church School children are going to help James Cox, Director of Malone Community Center, make Christmas a little brighter for some of the children he knows who won’t have much. We all know Mr. Cox because he is a teacher in our Church School. The children have each been asked to bring a present for a child their own age and sex. It need not be wrapped. It should be something new.” 


Pat Stephens, wife of Rev. Dr Charles S. Stephen Jr. (who served in Lincoln from 1961 to 1996) reported via her daughter Deb, that the Mitten Tree practice began as a relief effort for Europe in WWII, which then evolved into local relief. The December 20, 1968 newsletter describes a familiar practice, “For many years on Christmas Sunday we have asked our children to help decorate the Christmas tree in front of the church auditorium. The decorations are warm clothes, not necessarily new and not wrapped. We need socks and mittens (hence the name, Mitten Tree) scarves, sweaters and caps. All the children from Preschool - 1 through Junior High will come into the church for the opening service and will participate in the giving of gifts. The clothing will be taken by Marilyn and Roger Welsch when they attend the Omaha Indian Christmas Hand Games that evening.”  


Kathy Disney documented how the “Stranger Share our Fire” tradition came about in the February 2021 Beacon, sharing the words of our minister emeritus, Rev. Fritz Hudson, “When I came in 1998, the established tradition for the Sunday before Christmas was that it be an "intergenerational service,” organized by the Religious Education Director and that it include a "Mitten Tree" inviting members to decorate the tree with winter clothing to be donated to Lancaster County Community Action. Between 1998 and 2002, Religious Education Directors, Beryl Aschenberg, Kim Beyer-Nelson, and I collaborated to create services maintaining these traditions. Kim partnered with Music Director Sheila Brown to offer a two or three year run of evening Winter Solstice services organized around different themes emphasizing seasonal music and story-telling. The 2002 Winter Solstice evening service was organized around the theme "Stranger Share Our Fire."


Kathy went on to write, “The following year, with Winter Solstice falling on a Sunday, Kim, Sheila, and I collaborated to import the “Stranger Share Our Fire” theme into the pre-Christmas Sunday Intergenerational Service, and broadened the gift-giving ritual to include the UUSC Guest at Your Table, and two additional community agencies with whom the congregation had established relationships: Eastridge Food Pantry & Fresh Start Home.”


As we continue to celebrate our interconnectedness and draw upon some of the world’s great rituals of Winter Solstice, Christmas, and Hanukkah, we invite members and friends to join in this giving tradition to lift up our fellow community members on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024.

Read on page one of the December newsletter The Beacon about the gifts we will gather and offer to local organizations this holiday season.