History of the Friendship Tree​​​

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In early 1965, the Manchester Woman’s Club voted to organize and execute the lighting of a tree on the Common. Because of the decay of the original tree, a committee of women was formed and donations were asked from the community to help with the acquisition of a new tree. The citizens of Manchester responded well, and $500.00 was raised through donations. The women stated that the tree would be a “symbol of a friendly community.”  They suggested that it be called the Friendship Tree and that a permanent record of contributors be placed in the town hall “for future edification and inspiration.”  This plaque can now be found at the Library.

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The Friendship Tree Committee and a few knowledgeable tree men went looking everywhere for a new Norway spruce tree. Oddly enough none could be found in any of the nurseries contacted. Unaware of this but reading about the Friendship Tree in the paper, the William Humphrey Coolidge Family, in memory of the late William H. Coolidge, Jr. who had moved from Manchester to Wenham in 1942, offered any one of the Norway spruce trees from their field of spruces which had been planted by Mr. Coolidge as a hobby.

 

The committee and Mr. Amelia, from the Amelia Tree Co., selected a new spruce which was then donated to the Town of Manchester by Mrs. William Coolidge.  (Eleanor Cole Coolidge was the founder and proprietor of the Kettle Cove Industries on Summer Street. They were known all over the world for their delicious jams and jellies. Her famous sugared orange slices traveled widely overseas and were used to garnish many cocktails that were served in diplomatic circles.)
 

Dedication ceremonies for the new Friendship Tree were held on Sunday, December 19, 1965, with Mrs. Coolidge and two of her grandsons, Timothy Cole Coolidge and William H. Coolidge III of Wenham, in attendance. Mrs. Coolidge stated that in the spirit of friendship and affection for “both towns,” she hoped that the citizens of Manchester would be generous in their donations and memorials to light the tree for the years to come.  Also in attendance at the ceremony were Mrs. Gustav A. Knoerr and Mrs. Benjamin L. Bullock, charter members of the Manchester Woman’s Club; Miss Martha Mollison; Benjamin J. Stasiak, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen; Miss Patricia Cappello; and Woman’s Club President Mrs. John V. Meigs.

 

Over the many years that have passed since 1965, the cost of lighting the tree has risen like everything else that touches our lives. The Manchester Woman’s Club continues to raise funds from the community to defray the expenses.

 

The money that is raised by the sponsor-a-bulb program (formerly called buy-a-bulb) each year goes to pay the cost of testing the lights, putting them up and taking them down, paying for an electrician to see that the lights are lit throughout the holiday season, and purchasing new strands of lights when needed. The tree has doubled in size since 1965 thus creating the decorating difficulty. In 2014 the Woman’s Club voted to help cover the expense of pruning the Friendship Tree so that the arborist’s equipment would continue to be able to reach to the top.

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