{"id":9272,"date":"2024-01-08T14:51:25","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T14:51:25","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"New-Londoner-gives-light-for-all-to-see-53566436\/","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/?p=9272","title":{"rendered":"Hometown Hero: The spirit of Christmas is captured each year in New London, where the lonely lights shine bright\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The
The Christmas tree on top of the hill in New London that David Cleveland has been lighting since 1987. Mount Kearsarge can be seen in the backround.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"The
The Christmas tree on top of the New London hill that David Cleveland has been lighting since 1987, with Mount Kearsarge in the distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"The
The Christmas tree on top of the hill in New London that David Cleveland has been lighting since 1987. Mount Kearsarge can be seen in the backround.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"David
David Cleveland who has been lighting a Christmas tree on a hill in New London since 1987.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>

Inside, David Cleveland\u2019s father knew his son had created a great idea, an idea he liked, a warm and fuzzy tradition that just passed its 36th anniversary this past Christmas.<\/p>\n

But Jim Cleveland \u2013 the former Republican U.S. Congressman, poster boy for the Bush presidential dynasty, torch-carrier for the stoic, thrifty, tough, no-nonsense New Englander \u2013 had to support his own traditions, for the sake of appearances, if nothing else.<\/p>\n

He reminded his son about the cost of keeping alive a New London tradition called, \u201cDavid\u2019s Tree\u201d or \u201cThe Little Tree in the Big Field.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s essentially a Christmas tree, white lights blazing, standing in the middle of a long, flat, 20-acre stretch of land, a welcome mat for residents and visitors alike at Christmas time.<\/p>\n

Once, it was a fresh Christmas tree presented each year in a scene that would have made any postcard proud. Then, the artificial tree came along. A cost saver, of course.<\/p>\n

David has been anchoring a 6-foot Christmas tree \u2013 real and artificial \u2013 in the middle of his family\u2019s land since 1987. He swears he\u2019s never missed a holiday season.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why his sister, Cotton Cleveland, said that David is worthy of a Hometown Hero award.<\/p>\n

The tree\u2019s effect is eerie, calming, beautiful, all rolled into one. The lights create an angel-like haze, and a dark outline of Mount Kearsarge stands high in the background.<\/p>\n

David says, \u201cIt sits in the middle of nowhere. The image is sort of a ship in the night. The little tree that could. I wanted a metaphor or story and the only one I could think of was about my father because we were spending his money on such a little tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Cleveland had a reputation for being fair-minded, a moderate conservative.<\/p>\n

Throughout the 1960s, he supported the Civil Rights Act, Medicare, voting rights and housing and urban development.<\/p>\n

The United States Post Office and Court House in Concord were renamed the James C. Cleveland Federal Building in 1980. The James C. Cleveland Bridge in Berlin was built in his honor in 1982.<\/p>\n

The family\u2019s color and history don\u2019t stop there. David grew up in New London and graduated from Kearsarge Regional High School in 1973.<\/p>\n

He won a national collegiate championship in the giant slalom while skiing at Dartmouth College in 1976. He made one of the lower-level national teams and skied professionally in Colorado.<\/p>\n

He moved to the arts and performed in \u201cPhantom of the Opera\u201d on Broadway. He sang and acted in California productions. He played Tony in \u201cWest Side Story.\u201d He opened studios and promoted theater.<\/p>\n

He came back to New London and bought a house in 2002, looking to move from the sadness and horror of Ground Zero, which had only recently stopped smoldering.<\/p>\n

Looking for more control, David got his real estate license and flipped houses. His Charlie Brown-like Christmas tree story began in 1987, during a trip home to see his family in New London during Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to dad, \u2018wouldn\u2019t it be nice to have a tree in the field,\u2019 \u201d David said.<\/p>\n

Then, in his best grouchy, gravely, fiscally conservative voice, David listed his father\u2019s early concerns. What about the price of the tree? The price of the lights? The price of an extension cord, and the logistics of dragging a cord a few hundred feet to power the lights? And what about the cost of electricity?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a conservative New Englander,\u201d David said, \u201cso he could be thrifty.\u201d<\/p>\n

David has been the tree man ever since. The land is an easement with Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust and is owned by his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s on a beautiful piece of land and we can enjoy it forever,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a hit, always in its place, always saying different things to different people.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father would call,\u201d David said, \u201cand say that people are asking him about the damn tree and when was I putting it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The town has since become involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of it is people calling up and saying they don\u2019t like the placement,\u201d David said. \u201cThey say that maybe it could be a little more to the left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim died in 1995. His wife, Hilary Paterson Cleveland, is 96 and lives alone at David\u2019s childhood home.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of this brings her incredible joy, and it brings me joy, too,\u201d David said. \u201cIt just snowballed into something we have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tree goes up around Thanksgiving and comes down in April, after David and his husband, Robert Jensen,\u00a0return from Key West. The lights are controlled by a timer. It\u2019s lights out at 11 p.m. No reason to waste money.<\/p>\n

David always suspected that his annual tree celebration actually made his father happy. Jim just couldn\u2019t be too obvious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a call from a nosy neighbor,\u201d David said. \u201cShe told (Jim) how important that tree had become. He said, \u2018Thank you; we feel it\u2019s a great gift to the community.\u2019 Then he\u2019d call me and say, \u2018Dammit, when are you coming home?\u2019 It was hilarious.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside, David Cleveland\u2019s father knew his son had created a great idea, an idea he liked, a warm and fuzzy tradition that just passed its 36th anniversary this past Christmas.But Jim Cleveland \u2013 the former Republican U.S. Congressman, poster boy for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_newspack_byline_active":true,"_newspack_byline":"by [Author id=5]Ray Duckler[\/Author] Monitor staff","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[514,8],"tags":[398,24,254,505],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[513],"class_list":["post-9272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-centerpiece-cm","category-news","tag-edpick","tag-facebook","tag-new-london-nh","tag-paywall","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/42636494-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9274,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9272\/revisions\/9274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9272"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fnewspack_spnsrs_tax&post=9272"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nne-concord-monitor-2.newspackstaging.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=9272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}