Each year, dozens of students gather around to look at Christmas Trees. These trees, however, have a little more pizzazz than your average blue spruce. They dance, they sing, and they sometimes don bathing suits instead of ornaments.

 

This rather unorthodox celebration is all part of the Annual Mr. Christmas Tree Pageant, sponsored by Young Life. The event took place on December 3 and featured four young men from Bridgeport High School, representing each of the grade levels. 

 

“This is the second year we have had the event, and it runs like a traditional pageant,” said organizer and Young Life Leader Nathaniel Lutyens. 

 

If you watched the recent Miss World Pageant, you saw beautiful, talented women compete for a dazzling crown. If you watched the Mr. Christmas Tree Pageant, you did not. Instead, teens portraying trees competed in a talent portion that provided some high-quality entertainment, a swimsuit portion and an interview portion that asked questions about their treehood. 

 

The winner was awarded a very tacky crown, bragging rights and the ability to forgo his dignity during the season. That lucky young man was BHS Junior Jacob Love. Other participants were freshman Logan Crayton, sophomore Lucas Crayton, and senior Josh Hastings.

 

“It is such a fun activity,” said Lutyens.  “We have found it to be a great relationship-builder among the teams, and it gives the parents a glimpse into Young Life. The event, as with all Young Life events, also included a short, relatable sharing of the gospel.” 

 

Young Life is an interdenominational Christian outreach program for high school students. It presents Christianity as a relevant and understandable way and helps build personal relationships among the participants.