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Christmas Tree Made of Beer Cans Removed

Posted on: Thursday, 4 December 2003, 06:00 CST

One woman's tree entered at a Christmas festival apparently had a little too much holiday cheer for organizers' tastes.

That's why the original "Jingle Buds" - a tree made entirely of emptied beer cans - lasted about as long as a pint on nickel night.

"They called it camouflage, I call it censorship, but that was the compromise," said Carole Robinson, whose tree of 1,500 neatly organized Bud Light cans was ordered covered up with red ribbons. "I absolutely understand their concerns, but it doesn't have the pizzazz and wow that I wanted it to have."

This year's Festival of Trees - an annual event which raises more than $1 million for the Primary Children's Medical Center - includes 700 trees, many decorated by people with poignant stories of life and death.

Some trees are offered in gratitude by families whose children have been treated at the hospital. A few entries this year are dedicated to children killed in alcohol-related car crashes.

So it wasn't long before the complaints began flowing over Robinson's "Jingle Buds."

Robinson insisted she meant no harm and that she doesn't advocate irresponsible drinking. She said she followed festival guidelines.

"I don't want this to be a black cloud over the festival," Robinson said. "Oh my gosh, it was just to do something fun that would make people laugh and smile. That's just the way I do things, with a lot of flair."

But hospital administrators didn't want to appear to advocate alcohol consumption. At least one festival patron became angry at the display and said he had lost a family member in a crash involving a drunk driver.

"I was absolutely shocked. We had no idea it would look like that," said Sharon Smith, chairwoman of the festival.

Smith said Robinson's entry form listed her tree as red, white and blue with a single can of Budweiser at its base. "We thought that wouldn't be a big deal," Smith said.

But what the festival got was a tree made entirely of the cans, which were donated by Robinson's friends and family. When the complaints started, the Festival committee took Robinson aside and asked her to cover the cans. She complied Tuesday by wrapping them with the ribbons.

The festival has since changed its rules. Next year, no entries with themes of alcohol or tobacco will be accepted.

"Jingle Buds" sold for several hundred dollars at the festival's opening auction Tuesday. The exact price was not disclosed.

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