ABOVE: New this year, Matt the DJ elf will spin
holiday tunes starting at 4 p.m. Saturday.
RIGHT: Spectators watch fi reworks at the
lighting of the Crab Pot Christmas Tree in 2020.
The
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
A uniquely Ilwaco Christmas
Illahee
Apartments
Crab Pot Christmas Tree will be lit Saturday
By NIKKI DAVIDSON
COAST WEEKEND
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Surrounded by a maze of
commercial fi shing gear and
boats at the Port of Ilwaco, a
group of volunteer elves strate-
gized their next move.
“It’s kind of like a big ver-
sion of Jenga,” said Jenna Aus-
tin as she sized up the towering
pile in front of her.
Austin, the Ilwaco Mer-
chants Association president,
was focused on the mountain of
approximately 170 retired crab
pots in front of her. They were
carefully positioned into a pyr-
amid to create the unmistakable
fi gure of a Christmas tree.
A pair of volunteers had
already climbed the structure as
if it was an adult-sized jungle
gym, balancing near the top to
string lights throughout the wire
netting.
The quirky holiday tradition
started in Ilwaco 15 years ago,
created by a grassroots com-
munity group. Inspired by lob-
ster-pot trees on the East Coast,
they wanted to create something
similar in Ilwaco to connect the
city’s fi shing industry with a
growing community of artists.
Building the crab pot tree has
become more complicated over
the years, as the number of pots
used to create the tree have now
quadrupled.
There’s even an employee
with the Port of Ilwaco who has
been dubbed the “crab engi-
neer,” to ensure the makeshift
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
A decorated Jeep drives through the Ilwaco Crab Pot Christmas Tree
lighting in 2020.
creation is structurally sound.
The crab pots are donated by
local fi shermen, but they need to
be in good enough shape so the
tree won’t collapse in stormy
weather before Christmas.
See Page 5