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SALEM — The city's Christmas tree is a lesson in generosity.
The 27-foot, decorated evergreen was mounted in the fountain by the Museum Place Mall earlier this week and will be lighted during Santa's annual visit to Salem tomorrow at 6 p.m.
It's the first time in recent memory that a tree this size has adorned the downtown, and its 85-mile journey was a unified effort.
The MeetingHouse Church donated the money to buy the tree. Carpenter Tree Farm in Springvale, Maine, chopped it down and wrapped it up. Bill's Auto volunteered to drive one of its flatbed tow trucks up to Maine to haul the tree to Salem.
The city's Beautification Committee donated the more than 4,000 white lights that illuminate the tree (as well as more than 80 wreaths that hang on downtown lampposts).
But a Christmas tree isn't really a Christmas tree without decorations, and that's where two Salem residents decided to make their own contribution.
The approximately 90 gold and red bows on the tree were donated by Gary Gill and Jim Webb in memory of Webb's aunt, Juliette Marquis.
Marquis was a lifelong volunteer at St. Joseph's school, church and food pantry and helped run St. Theresa's Thrift Shop at the former St. Joseph Church, according to Gill.
"The whole time she was running the thrift store, if people didn't have money, she'd give it to them," Gill said.
The Rev. Lawrence Rondeau, the former pastor at St. Joseph Church and now the senior priest in residence at St. James, said Marquis single-handedly ran the thrift shop for years.
"She was one of the most giving people we ever had in the parish," Rondeau said. "She never married, and I think God provided her for the parish."
For decades, Marquis was the office manager at Bursaw Oil Co., and when she retired, the boss gave her a bonus — a check for $25,000.
She donated all of it to St. Joseph Church, Webb said.
"She was the real thing," her nephew said.
But a few years ago, Marquis suffered a heart attack and, eventually, she was moved to the Essex Park Rehabilitation Center in Beverly.
"Christmas was a big deal," Gill said. "She didn't want to be there for Christmas. She wanted to be at home with everybody."
So Gill and Webb tried to bring Christmas directly to Marquis' room.
They decorated.
There was a tree, colored lights, garland, window decals, angels, candy canes, even a flashing snowman. Marquis' roommate, Statia Ring, and her family added to the festive theme themselves.
"It made it so much easier to accept they were there," Gill said.
In August, Marquis died at the age of 95, and for her family, this will be the first Christmas without her.
So a few weeks ago when Salem Main Streets Executive Director Jennifer Bell mentioned the city was hoping to put up a Christmas tree downtown this year, Gill and Webb offered to donate the bows as a way to memorialize their aunt.
"I hope people remember those that have passed and they count their blessings, I guess," Gill said.
Bell said the tree — and all those who donated something toward it — will help keep the downtown vibrant during the holiday season.
"It definitely adds to the atmosphere," Bell said, "and it shows that Salem's downtown has come back to being a wonderful place."
Staff writer Chris Cassidy can be reached at ccassidy@salem news.com.
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