A longtime Methuen couple, whose $1 sapling grew up to star as city’s 2024 Christmas tree, donated the arbor in honor of late Mayor Neil Perry and hopes he’s smiling down on us this holiday season.

Twenty-five years ago, Tom and Helen Barnacle bought a few $1 saplings on their annual visit to the Topsfield Fair.

“Of all the ones that we had, this one survived,” recalls Tom Barnacle, who lives off East Capitol Street. “We put it in a 5-gallon bucket, and after 3 years we planted it.”

That tiny blue spruce “grew at least 2 stories high,” Barnacle said. “It was located at the very point of my yard, which is a side lot. For the longest time, when the kids were small, we had a hockey rink on that part.”

While tuning in to a city meeting, Helen learned Methuen was seeking nominations for a beautiful tree to serve as its holiday centerpiece at The Loop.

“We said, ‘Let’s donate it; let’s put in for it,’ ” Tom recalls.

His e-mail to Rec Director Steve Angelo specifically stated, “Please consider my tree for the Methuen Christmas Tree in Memory of Mayor Neil Perry.”

Tom only had a brief interaction with Perry, who died Sept. 21. But the late mayor – who openly gushed about his love of the holidays – left a lasting impression.

“I met him once when we had water issues in our neighborhood. He was right on top of it,” Tom said of Perry. “To me, he was a salt-of-the-earth guy. Methuen was his baby.”

Once the Barnacles’ blue spruce was chosen, Livingston Family Tree Service cut it down and set it up at The Loop at no cost to the city; Coady’s Towing took the tree to its new spot near Marshalls.

“It was too chilly for my 90-year-old mom to go outside, but I took videos of (the tree coming down). She got a kick out of it and thought it was great,” Tom says. “It’s bittersweet – we bought it at Topsfield for $1 and, to me, we feel it’s being put to good use.”

What does Tom think Perry’s reaction would be to having this stunning tree donated in his honor?

“I feel he would smile,” Barnacle said.

This experience also included a full-circle moment. Tom adds that Mac Livingston, who cut down the giant blue spruce for free (as his business does every year for the city), “was our neighbor for 23 years. The year we planted the tree, he moved!”
 The Barnacle family will give their beloved tree a final salute in the fall.

“Livingston cut me off a piece and we’ll go back to my brother-in-law’s (whose property abuts the Topsfield fairgrounds) and we’ll burn the bottom of it,” he said.

So while a mainstay of the Barnacles’ cul-de-sac is gone, it surely won’t be forgotten.

“I have a neighbor who wrote to me about letting the city cut it down and utilize it, and it’s nice that my neighbors appreciated (the tree) through the years,” Tom added.

The extended Barnacle family attended the tree lighting. Helen Barnacle couldn’t help but laugh as her husband admired their re-located tree, dressed in its holiday best.

“My kids are saying, ‘What happened, dad? You used to be a Grinch!’ ” she smiled.