Steel tree near Canso Causeway brightens Christmas for locals, travellers

The four counties surrounding the Canso Causeway have a unique holiday tradition — a lit-up steel Christmas tree located 175 metres above sea level.

Martin Marietta Materials, a company that ships crushed rock in Aulds Cove, N.S., sets up a nine-metre tree starting Dec. 1 and covers it with lights that can be seen from several kilometres away.

"It's just a message to the community to let them know that Christmas is coming and that we wish them a Merry Christmas," said production foreman Brian Gillis.

The tradition started with a real tree placed on the face of Cape Porcupine. After high winds wreaked havoc on subsequent trees, eventually breaking one in half, the company switched to a steel structure in the early 1990s. 

"It's actually just a [steel] centre for the tree, and we put hoops on it like the shape of the tree and the shape of the star [on top]," said Gillis.

"The tree itself is over 30 feet [tall], plus there's another two or three feet for the star.… And then we dress it up with lights."

Gillis estimates the display takes about 25 sets of lights. 

"It means you're almost home"

Ken Eveleigh, originally from Sydney Mines, has fond memories of seeing the structure on trips home to Cape Breton after his family moved to New Brunswick.

"For myself, it was always joy," said Eveleigh, an employee with Martin Marietta Materials for seven years. "And still, to this day, if I'm travelling back [to the Strait] and I see it, it means you're almost home."

Gillis, who lives in Port Hawkesbury, says he has seen the tree from as far away as Creignish in Inverness County and Havre Boucher in Antigonish County. He also recalls an inquiry from an elderly Port Hastings resident that cemented locals' loyalty to the project. 

"There's one year that we were a little bit late getting the tree lit, and we got a phone call from a lady in Port Hastings, across the Strait," Gillis recalled. 

"And she said that her favourite pastime at this time of year was to sit in her front window, knitting, having a cup of tea, and looking across at our tree. And she was wondering why it wasn't lit up yet. And that was on Dec. 1." 

"It's a beacon for us"

The Martin Marietta tree also brings joy to commuters around the Strait Area, including Port Hawkesbury's Leah Doiron. She considers the tree her favourite thing about living in the region.

Doiron, originally from rural Newfoundland, makes a daily trek to her office in Antigonish, often travels around the Strait for her job, and usually arrives at the Canso Causeway just as darkness sets in and the tree's lights are turned on.

"I have spent Christmases all over the world — in Australia, Thailand, all over Europe, in Newfoundland. And that Christmas tree is like the neatest thing I ever saw."

Eveleigh and Gillis are convinced the tree tradition is here to stay.

"It's relatively easy to do," said Eveleigh. "It makes a lot of people happy."