Friends create giant ‘granny-square’ Christmas tree at Tailem Bend

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From a casual chat with a friend about crocheting squares for an Adelaide Hills community project, a giant granny-square Christmas tree was born and is currently on display at Tailem Bend Hardware.

After the chat with a friend, Annette Burt of Tailem Bend found herself googling concepts as she became totally captivated with the whole notion of the project.

“It wasn’t long before I realised that a granny-square Christmas tree would make a magnificent community project,” she said.

“Once Christmas was over, we could use the granny squares to make rugs and blankets to donate to local organisations and charities.”

Ms Burt approached the Tailem Bend Progress Association, who quickly supported the project, resulting in an article requesting registrations of interest being published in their community magazine, Tailem Topics.

“The response to our call-out for crocheted granny squares was amazing to say the least: hundreds began to arrive,” Ms Burt said.

“Some (were) donated by local women, some from women who previously lived in or had family members living in Tailem – some even sent granny squares from interstate, and we also had women passing through the town in their caravans, donating them.”

With all the donations sorted by colour and size, a small group of dedicated grannies gathered over several lunchtimes at the Tailem Bend Hotel to bring it all together.

“What a sight – a group of grannies crocheting in the local pub,” Ms Burt said.

“We truly created some shock and curiosity for Frank’s regular patrons.

“My husband, Allen, built the tree’s framework from recycled materials; he did an excellent job given the vague instructions we gave him.

“I would also like to thank Jenny from Tailem Bend Hardware for her generous offer to display our tree in their front window.”

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Ms Burt and her band of dedicated grannies would like to see this project become an annual event, with next year’s tree being supported by an aluminium foldable framework designed by another granny’s husband, Geoff Nicholls of Tailem Bend.

“We would like to invite other local community groups and organisations to join in the fun and help us decorate the Christmas tree every year,” she said.

Ms Burt feels humbled and extremely grateful for the overwhelming response to the project.

“So many people have helped us make this project a success,” she said.

“And as Hellen Keller says, ‘Alone, we can do so little, but together, we can do so much more.’”