'The One' makes its return to Enid

ENID, Okla. — The world’s largest, fresh-cut Christmas tree, The One Enid Christ Tree, made its return to Enid on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, after a three-day delay.

Originally scheduled to arrive on Friday, the tree was delayed due to weather along the route.

The Christ Tree will be the centerpiece of The One Enid, a 42-day celebration of the Christmas season.

This year’s tree matches the 140-foot height of the tree that marked the first celebration of “The One” last year. The tree arrived at 9 a.m. and was stood up on Monday, and the process of drilling holes and then plugging them with additional branches will take place in the coming days.

Nicole Winfield, project manager for The One Enid, said that process normally would take 11 days, but even with three days lost, she said the tree will be ready for Nov. 25 for the 7:30 p.m. lighting ceremony in conjunction with Enid Lights Up the Plains.

The tree will be adorned with thousands of lights and ornaments, and was the idea of Enid entrepreneur Kyle Williams. Williams said on Monday The One is representative of what makes Enid a special community.

“I would probably just describe it as pure joy. It’s fun, it really is,” Williams said. “Enid is a special place. When people come to Vance Air Force Base, when people come and visit ... even our tree crew last year could not believe how nice the people are. So to do this in our community, and to just have such a cool experience for families about something so important, which is Christmas. It really is indescribable. It’s a lot of work by Nicole Winfield, Angela Williams and Jessica Nelson and Lindsey Fry, and so many people.”

Williams said the tree will be reinforced with some steel this year after high winds blew the top of the tree off last year. This year’s tree was brought to town about a month later, which means less days spent withstanding the Oklahoma wind. He said events like The One are the types of events that people in the Enid community want.

“They want something that’s special,” Williams said. “And, you know, we think big. When we came up with this idea, it was kind of one of those things where we thought, ‘We can do this.’ To do what they’re going to do for the next seven or eight days, it’s pretty remarkable, it really is. It’s a lot of skill, and we’re grateful to have them back.”

Members of the community were at the site of where the festivities, south of Stride Bank Center on Park, where they eagerly awaited the arrival of the tree.

Kaitlyn Hamand and her family saw the tree last year, and she said she wanted to bring her young son to see the tree come into town this year. She said her family loves Christmas, and it was “really cool to see the biggest Christmas tree in the world” last year.

“Our son, he saw it last year, but he wasn’t old enough to remember so we wanted to bring him out here and he wanted to see it,” Hamand said. “It’s very exciting to see it come in.”

Tonita Hamblin saw the tree last year and wanted to see it come into town, despite being on crutches and not being able to drive. She jokingly said she begged a friend to bring her so she could see The One come into town for its second year.

“Super excitement. I’m a huge Christmas Hallmark fan. And that’s putting it lightly,” Hamblin said. “I’ve always kind of been disappointed in the metal tree downtown. And this is what I’ve always wanted, because I watch Hallmark movies. So when this came about, I was super stoked. And I’m even more stoked that it’s coming back.”

Winfield said had any additional weather hit Enid early Monday, the tree would have been put up a few days later.