The Glen Lake Christmas Tree Boat is back on the water and even brighter than before with 6,000 lights to dazzle this little community and visitors to the Sleeping Bear Dunes area, reports mLive.
6,000 lights Christmas tree
This winter marks the 10th anniversary for this holiday landmark that floats just offshore of the M-22 causeway that separates Little Glen and Big Glen lakes. This Christmas tradition started by the Siepker family is an annual labor of love that has become a gift to the entire community and all who visit this Up North beauty spot for the holidays.
This year’s tree is dressed up with 6,000 lights – a high-wattage beacon that’s using triple the lights the family normally puts on it.
“The kids did all of the lights this year and they lit it up! 6,000 lights! 3 times what we normally do,” Frank Siepker Jr shared on Facebook Friday night in announcing the Christmas Tree Boat was floating for the season. “It’s bright! It’s full! Lots of sap!”
Travel and snowstorms that socked the Glen Lake and Sleeping Bear Dunes area meant the tree was anchored in the lake a couple weeks later than in other years. And Siepker and his children had to work out a couple bugs thanks to overloaded power converters with all the extra lights this year. But the end result is truly eye-catching.
“Thank you so much to my kids, Ashley and Frank, and of course my wife, Tracy, for being all in on helping out, making it much easier on me this year,” Siepker said. “Merry Christmas to all. May the little floating lights help light up your holiday season.”
Locals and visitors are drawn to this waterfront stretch of M-22 just south of Glen Arbor so they can see the little fishing boat and its upright tree, bobbing along in the waves. Word spreads quickly on social media when the boat goes in the water for the holiday season.
Frank and Tracy Siepker started the tradition because they were looking to make their section of the lakefront a little more merry and add some twinkle to what can be a fairly dark expanse of water outside their home’s windows. This year’s design has come a long way from the first tree experiment, which included an artificial evergreen and a fraction of the lights they now use.
The fresh-cut tree is secured in a custom-made subframe assembly. It’s fitted inside the little boat that Siepker used to zip around in as a kid. And since you can’t very well use an extension cord when the boat is floating hundreds of feet offshore, the family uses a lighting setup that includes solar panels and batteries.
The Siepkers’ children – Ashley, 12, and Frank, 10, are a big part of the project. In an earlier interview, their dad told MLive that when the kids talked to Santa at a community event, he told them he can always find their house by the light of the Christmas Tree Boat.
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Source: mLive
