For those who celebrate Christmas, whether religiously or as a secular observance, the most popularly used decoration to mark the season's festivities is probably the Christmas tree. The ritual of putting it up and decorating it with lights (not so much taking it down and packing it away after) is a special event for many families and children every December.
Fifty years ago however, T&T didn't really have Christmas trees, at least not the way we have them today. Former First Lady Zalayhar Hassanali said back in the 1960s most people simply cut branches from whatever tree was available to use in their homes.
"In those days, we didn't have formal trees. We didn't have what we have now. We used guava branches or something as our Christmas trees," she said, reminiscing over the telephone.
But one Christmas season 50 years ago, Hassanali attested to an interesting story about the unbridled optimism and vision of one young man, who offered another option.
Gordon Cressy, a 19-year-old high school graduate who moved from Canada to volunteer at the YMCA had a vision for Christmas 1963, and that was to import real scotch pine trees from his home country and sell them in Trinidad.
The objective was two-fold–to raise funds for the association, while giving people the experience of a real, living Christmas tree.
Chatting with the T&T Guardian 50 years later, a now 70-year-old Cressy said the novel plan had unfolded into a "Christmas tree adventure," joking that his youthful enthusiasm was to blame.
The 1,500 pine trees were ordered and left New Brunswick, Canada some time in October that year, scheduled to arrive in Trinidad by December 15, via cargo ship.
But there was no smooth sailing for those trees.
"It was looking great until that day December 15 when the trees didn't come," Cressy said via Skype from his home in Toronto.
In order to find out what was wrong Cressy made a long-distance phone call, which was not a regular or cheap thing to do in those days, and he found out there was good news and bad news.
"We discovered, to my shock, that there had been this fire on the ship."
The good news was the ship's crew managed to save the trees.
The lucky trees were transferred to another cargo ship, with a much later arrival date to Trinidad–December 22. That date was cutting it very close to Christmas Day itself, but Cressy said organisers were optimistic.
However, their resolve was tested, as bad luck struck again.
The ship that was meant to save the day, had to make a stop in Bermuda to drop off and pick up other cargo, unrelated to the trees. Unfortunately, the Bermudan dock workers were on strike, and refused to come out to work until December 26. The ship could not leave, which meant the trees were stranded in Bermuda.
"That was a low point for me," Cressy said, smiling fondly as he recalled the hiccup.
The ship remained there for four days, until it made its way to Barbados.
What happened next was a mix of cleverness and plain old luck. The YMCA went to the British West Indian Airways (BWIA). The now defunct airline agreed to go to Barbados to collect the trees and bring them back to Trinidad–free of charge.
"We went down to them (BWIA) and said here's a wonderful marketing opportunity," Cressy explained, saying they pitched the idea as a positive public relations move.
"All my life I found if you can go with pride and say 'We want you to be involved with this,' people will rise up."
BWIA agreed to the plan, and with a plane devoid of seats, Cressy along with his friend Bing Manbodh, traveled to Barbados in their "short pants and sandals" and picked up the 1,500 stranded trees.
Manbodh was a young Customs Officer, who rented a room from the association, where he met Cressy. He remembered the trip as one big adventure.
"It was good fun! I never rode in an aircraft before, I didn't even have a passport," the 74-year-old retiree recalled.
Cressy added happily they sneaked some rum onto the plane too.
They returned to Trinidad on the evening of December 22, loaded the trees onto a truck and drove to Port-of-Spain for the grand sale.
Sold at $1 per foot, the YMCA was able to buy table tennis and weight lifting equipment with the proceeds.
Hassanali, who has become very close friends with Cressy and his family, spoke of the joy the trees brought to people saying "it's really very, very exciting to have a tree like that."
"People were delighted to have it, it was a great idea. We didn't have a clue about Christmas trees in those days. It was very exciting to have a tree like that," she said.
Cressy said despite all the obstacles, their optimism and tenacity made it come together.
"Good energy and good will can make good things happen," Cressy said.
"It's always great to have grand dreams. I believe in grand dreams."
He joked that in January 1964, he got a raise in salary from the YMCA from $10 to $12 a week.
Many Christians, Catholics, Hindus, and Muslims gravitate toward this festive custom, regardless of understanding where it came from or what it represents. That's where we keep the gifts.
But there's something about a lit Christmas tree, artificial or real, big or small, that makes you feel warm, peaceful and happy. Maybe it's the twinkling lights. But Cressy's grand dream to brighten the season with something other than a coffee tree branch decorated with cotton balls, was fresh and exciting, and no doubt a welcomed change in 1963.
about cressy
Cressy's love for T&T runs deep, as he said he reads the online newspapers everyday. During the interview Cressy proved to be familiar with and amused by the various political shenanigans making headlines in the past two months due to the recent St Joseph by-election and local government election.
He has made life-long connections with Hassanali and Manbodh, who both speak highly of the man who developed the fledgling YMCA and did not relent until the Christmas trees touched down in Trinidad.
"Gordon is a fantastic person. He loved it here and the people loved him. He was the one who really set up the Y," Hassanali said, laughing as she rememberered him riding his bicycle around the town.
He lived in Trinidad as a YMCA volunteer until he was 21, then returned for two summers in 1965 and 1967 to help run a camp.
He said his stint here was "the most powerful time in my life in terms of changing directions."
"It's (T&T) the place that changed my life," he said solemnly.
"Going into it, it just seemed like a grand adventure." He explained that he realised early on his purpose was to listen and learn so he could truly help people.
Cressy still could not resist T&T after he left in 1967. At present, Cressy is the president of the George Brown College Foundation, a storyteller and public speaker in Toronto, and has a masters degree in social work.
"Over the years, until 2008 I would come down once a year for 35 years. Whenever I could find a way to come down I was there," saying no matter what, his first stop would always be for a hot doubles.
When asked what was his favourite thing about T&T he said: "The people, the music and the food. Those three." He described Calypso Rose and Sparrow as "fantastic" and the Signal Hill choir in Tobago as "sensational."
The 19-year-old teenager may have grown up, but he has never stopped contributing to the country's development. Since 2008 he has been coming back about four times a year, but not for a sand and sea vacation.
Cressy and his wife Joanne Campbell were instrumental in building the YMCA in Tobago near Turtle Beach from 2008 to 2011, as they were project managers who helped raise funds.
"Mrs Hassanali was very helpful. We recruited a very strong board of directors. We talked to the government (Tobago House of Assembly) and they gave us three acres of land, which was great."
The project cost about $13 million, and Cressy said the government provided half of the funds, while the group raised the remainder. Their team of experts designed and built two pools–an eight lane, 25 metre pool and a smaller learning pool.
Operations director for the Tobago YMCA Ainsley King said up to 1,200 pre-school, primary and secondary school students use the pool on a weekly basis for swimming classes. The facility has eight swim instructors.
"The THA subsidises that cost for students. So they can learn to swim for free," he said via telephone.
He said the facility was a "great benefit" to Tobagonians–young and old.
"A lot of people don't know how to swim. Some people come to the pool and are ashamed to say they don't know how to swim...It's also beneficial to seniors, who exercise in our aqua aerobics programme. Everyone is thrilled to have this facility."