Each year during the advent season, a forest of beautifully handcrafted Christmas trees begins showing up around the church. But trees don’t just grow on trees; someone put a lot of time and energy into making them.

That someone is Jane Caro, and she was kind enough to share some of the backstory behind what has become part of the seasonal tradition at Anchor Lincoln.

Did you come up with the concept for these trees?

Jane: It was Annie Brandt’s idea. She was such a big part of this church and she had such a vision for design and creating welcoming and festive spaces. She asked me to create them.

What made her think of you?

Jane: I was right in the middle of a career change at the time. I think she saw on Instagram that I was in school for woodworking. It was flattering that she thought I could do it.

How did you come to choose that for your career? Had you done much woodworking as a hobby?

Jane: Not at all. I had maybe used a chop saw once. I knew I wanted to do something creative in the trades. With my husband in the military, I was looking to find a passion of my own and one of my instructors suggested I try woodworking. And I loved it.

So you were pretty new to it when you made the trees.

Jane: This was really one of my first public-facing projects. I had a class where I could choose my own design to work on so I turned the trees into a class assignment.

What can you tell us about the trees themselves?

Jane: They’re made of pre-finished birch plywood. I drew them freehand, then rough cut them with a band saw and finished them up with a router.. They store flat, which has made them easy to set up and tear down. It’s nice that they’ve lasted so long.

Well, they are evergreens after all.

Jane: They’re fun. They have such a simple design, but I think there’s more to them than that.