STORY HEADLINE: Upside-down Christmas tree catches many customers off-guard

Today's news is a discusses Christmas at a local store

DISCUSSION: What Christmas, or other holiday traditions do you have? What different holidays do you and your family celebrate?

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Upside-down Christmas tree catches many customers off-guard

By CHELSEA DEWEESE for the Missoulian

LOLO – Most people ask what it is, and it’s certainly not a chandelier.

It’s a 6-foot-tall Christmas tree hanging upside down over the checkout counter at Traveler’s Rest Country Store.

At the Traveler's Rest Country Store west of Lolo, the upside-down Christmas tree over the checkout counter usually gets some comments. Photo by TOM BAUER/Missoulian

The hybrid gas station/bar and casino/country store is just west of Lolo on Highway 12, and its workers are putting their unique stamp on holiday decorating this year.

That’s just fine with Frank Miller, the store’s owner. He’s known for his unique businesses in Lolo, like KT’s Hayloft Saloon and Deli with its aged paintings of “women of the night.”

He’s a boss who likes to keep things interesting and make customers do a double take.

And even though making a Christmas tree look right side up upside down isn’t easy, the looks on people’s faces when they notice what’s above their head at the checkout counter is priceless.

According to Christmas-tree legend, upside-down trees originated with an English monk who used the triangle shape of the fir to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity. Some 12th-century Christians started hanging fir trees upside down in their homes as a sign of their faith, a practice that eventually faded into obscurity.

More recently, some parents dangled trees from the ceiling to keep their curious toddlers safe from tinsel and electric lights.

In Lolo, store manager Jamie Weil, a petite woman with the energy potential of a bottle rocket, hung the Christmas tree upside down this year simply because she wanted to go against the flow.

The whole store runs against the current of traditional retail decor.

“It’s different,” says Miller. “That’s the whole theme of the store.”

Three mounted bears with frozen snarls on their faces tower near the entrance. Amid cans of beans and bags of powdered chai are rag dolls and ceramic buffalo heads.

A plastic plant and fake streetlight stand guard in the corner. Mirrors decorated like playing cards are on the walls, and glass display cases with arrowheads and rusty spurs are in the back near the bar.

Outside, wooden members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition preside over a “Seasons Greetings” sign, with big red bows tied around their necks, beckoning customers to pull off Highway 12.

Miller’s soft spot for farm auctions and antique collectibles challenges his employees to keep up.

That’s refreshing for Weil, who arranged flowers at Safeway for banquets and events before joining Traveler’s Rest when it opened almost two years ago.

Miller’s latest project, the upside-down tree, allowed Weil to put her artistic skills to work.

Weil bought a 15-pound fiber-optic tree, bolted it to the ceiling over the checkout counter and started decorating. Deciding against blue and white colors (because everyone else is using those colors this year), Weil wrapped her tree in silver and shades of lavender.

The hard part was stringing the garland, cloth poinsettias and ornaments from a tree that was defying gravity.

“Thank goodness I bought shatter-proof balls,” says Weil.

Workers at the store say the ornaments have stayed on the tree surprisingly well.

“I just hope the whole tree doesn’t fall off,” says one kitchen worker, glancing at the silver skirt tacked over the wood-and-bolt logistics of the setup.

Luckily, all say, there is no need to water an artificial tree.

Jerri Parker, a cashier at the store, sees all kinds of reactions to the upside-down decor.

A lot of customers don’t even notice the tree, she says, while some look at it sideways and don’t say anything.

One regular said he needed some more coffee when he saw it for the first time, and another man told Parker it would be hard to put any presents under it.

“That’s nifty,” says a young boy in a sleeveless shirt while his friend in a hoodie pinches the tree’s glowing tips. “It’s better than bolting it to the counter.”

The tree is a conversation starter, and that’s exactly what Weil had hoped for. That and a Christmas tree little kids could gawk at without getting in trouble with their parents for touching.

Traveler’s Rest, she says, is striving to be a family friendly business.

Miller says he hopes to weave the country store into the community’s fabric over the coming years. He has ideas in the works for a barbecue out back and a skating pond across the street.

Who knows? The upside-down tree may become a holiday tradition.

“I’ve lived in Lolo a long time,” Miller says. “I like to give back to the community.”

Chelsea DeWeese is a journalism student at the University of Montana and an intern at the Missoulian