There’s just something about a Christmas tree that can turn the rough and tough into the most joyful souls with soft centers.
Long before the hot cocoa started to steam or the first Christmas carols floated through Silver Dollar City, other sounds of the season led the way—the clang of steel, the hum of welders, and the cadence of work boots. It’s the soundtrack of the park’s most loyal keepers: the Maintenance & Construction team.
Our guys are used to building coasters. They keep the wheels spinning and the bolts dependable. Their hands are calloused, their humor is dry, and their day starts long before the first guest goes through the turnstile and ends past dark. Often known for their grit, this Christmas season, they’re showing their heart.
Because this year, for the very first time, Silver Dollar City welcomed a 47-foot-tall Grand Fir Christmas tree. And the team that usually methodically checks off work orders has created a soft spot for it.
From the moment it arrived from the mountains of Oregon, wrapped and road-weary, the crew gathered around it like proud new uncles. They measured it, studied it, circled it slowly with their hands on their hips—protecting it as if it belonged to them. And in a way, it does.
They engineered a custom steel base to make the Grand Fir stand tall, designing and fabricating it piece by piece. They didn’t want anything off-the-shelf, nothing ordinary. But a tree is a living thing, and living things need care. So, the same guys who hang
track and bolt down coasters built a custom gravity-flow watering system. Thirty gallons a day will reach the roots because of their ingenuity.
And, don’t get us started on the star. What began as a scribble on the corner of a napkin has become something extraordinary. They bent, shaped, welded, polished and transformed that doodle into a crystal-looking tree topper worthy of front page news. When it catches the light, you can almost see the fingerprints of the men who made it.
Still, their work wasn’t finished.
They fluffed the branches with flair. To make the tree truly shine, someone had to twist 30,000 bulbs into strands, so they did that too—by hand. Every bulb. Every twist. Every turn. The toughest guys in the park, carefully dressed a tree while wearing Santa hats like it was the most important job in the world.
Because to them, it was.
They know most guests will never learn their names. They know their work rarely comes with applause. They’re the unseen army behind the magic. But this tree—this towering symbol of hope and heritage—is their labor of love.
And when those 30,000 lights glowed for the very first Grand Fir lighting ceremony, families gasped, children pointed and a hush fell over The Plaza. There in the background were our guys with arms crossed, quietly proud. Our trusty magic makers. The quiet heroes behind a moment thousands will remember.
- Kelly Eutsler, Visual Design Manager
As Public Relations Manager for the Silver Dollar City Company, she is eager to tap into her journalism background to hunt down “heart tugs” to write about—those stories that celebrate…
