Several hundred Christmas trees were dropped of for recycling by MetroParks of Butler County following the 2025 holidays. Among the evergreen branches, parks employees found a handful of ornaments that got missed when people were putting away their decorations.
"We have fewer than 10 out of almost 500 trees that were donated," Katie Ely-Wood, communications manager, tells WVXU. "People did a really good job of making sure their trees were free of ornaments before bringing them to us, but we do have a few that are on the Island of Misfit Ornaments right now."
Among the found ornaments are a ceramic star with a child's drawing of a group of people. It's labeled "Abby 2013."
"I'm imagining this young person that decorated this ornament is probably now a young adult, and this is a cherished ornament for her parents or grandparents," Ely-Wood says.
There's a snowman celebrating the year 2021, an angel with the word "Grandpa" on it, and Star Wars' Han Solo encased in carbonite.
One lucky employee is surely in for a prosperous year ahead, as a Christmas Pickle is among the found decorations. Deemed a German-American tradition, some families hide a pickle ornament each year on their tree. Whomever finds it either receives an extra present or will be rewarded with good fortune in the following year.
"Ornaments are a treasured part of lots of families' Christmases; they hold a lot of memories for people. I definitely have ornaments at my house that my grandmother gave me or my parents gave me that I really treasure," Ely-Wood says. "We want to make sure that these ornaments find as much of an opportunity as possible to get back home to the rightful owners and continue those holiday traditions for years and years to come."
This isn't the first year MetroParks has attempted to return found ornaments. Ely-Wood isn't certain how many have been claimed in the past. But, she says, this year feels different.
"Normally, the ornaments that we get aren't as sentimental as these seem to be. They're kind of those tchotchke, mass produced, throw away ornaments, so a lot of people don't want to come reclaim those," she says. "But this year seems to be a special batch of really sentimental-looking ones, so we want to give the public an opportunity to come and reclaim them if they can."
If you suspect one of the found ornaments belongs to you, they're available for pick-up from the Voice of America MetroPark Welcome Center starting Feb. 11. You also can call MetroParks at 513-867-5835.
Any ornaments that aren't claimed will be donated, Ely-Wood says.
If you're wondering what happens to the trees, they're chopped up into wood chips for mulch to be used throughout the parks.
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