Too-Tall Tree Boughs Out at Christmas

Betty and Herman Guse have given what may be the biggest gift the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove will receive this Christmas.

On Monday a 65-foot Norfolk pine tree was cut down in the couple’s Garden Grove front yard and hauled to the nearby church, where it will be decorated in time for the church’s annual Christmas Eve services.

“At first we were thinking of giving it to a shopping plaza, but we figured more people would enjoy it this way,” said Betty Guse, 68.

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, Crystal Cathedral pastor, said more than 21,000 people will see the tree during the Christmas Eve event, which he called one of the “world’s largest Christmas candlelight services.”

The tree will be decorated with 50,000 lights and placed near the pulpit area in the landmark church, which seats 3,000 people, said Terry Larsen, operations manager for the church.

Betty Guse said the couple had to get rid of the tree because it had grown too high and it was tilting toward their home.

“It kept getting taller and taller,” Betty Guse said. “We were afraid something would happen the next time there was a strong Santa Ana wind.”

Although they received estimates of several hundred dollars to remove the listing pine tree and stump, the elderly couple said they felt the tree could still benefit people. After some consideration, Betty Guse said they called the Crystal Cathedral to see if it could remove the tree and put it to use as the church’s Christmas tree.

Michael C. Nason, a spokesman for the church, said the Christmas tree this year would be the biggest one the 30-year-old congregation has ever had. Last year, he said, the church paid $5,000 to purchase and transport a 45-foot tree. This year, the church will pay less than $2,000 to remove and transport the tree from the Guses’ front yard.

The church, which is 415 feet long, 207 feet wide and 128 feet in height, was expected to easily accommodate the towering pine tree. After it is decorated, the tree will be moved in through two 90-foot doors that open electronically behind the pulpit area, Nason said.

Betty Guse, who plans to attend the services, said she is sentimental about parting with a tree she has watched grow since 1965, when she and her husband, Herman, now 75, moved into their home in the 10500 block of Allen Drive. The tree was 2 years old then, and 10 feet tall. The couple decorated the pine tree with their own Christmas lights each year until it simply grew too tall for them to reach the top.

The couple plan to plant another pine tree and donate it to the church in 20 more years, Betty Guse said Monday.

“We have mixed emotions about letting this one go,” she said. “But we are looking forward to watching another one grow.”