Chewelah Labyrinth Gives Christmas Trees a Second Chance at Spreading Joy

The Christmas Tree Labyrinth at the Chewelah Center for the Arts wrapped up its second season this past weekend, closing after several days of post-holiday operation that stretched into early 2026. Built from more than 200 reclaimed Christmas trees, the installation invited community members to slow down and experience a moment of calm after the holidays.

Organizer Paula Randall said the idea was sparked during the winter of 2023, when her family waited until Christmas Eve to buy a tree and discovered how many unsold trees were simply discarded.

“I was horrified,” Randall said. “What an awful way for a tree to go that was supposed to bring such joy and hope.”

That moment led to a question that would ultimately reshape the theater’s winter landscape: What if those trees could be given a second life?

Randall said she approached local nurseries and businesses, asking whether unsold trees could be donated instead of thrown away. The answer, she said, was an enthusiastic “Yes!” In the labyrinth’s first year, Randall said 122 trees were collected and assembled by a small group of volunteers. Despite freezing rain that lingered for the entire week, more than 300 people showed up to look at the trees.

“That was the proof of concept the theater needed,” Randall said. “People came anyway.”

This year’s labyrinth more than doubled in size. Randall said roughly 225 live trees were collected, along with dozens of artificial trees she had gathered as a backup in 2024. The result was a large, five-circuit labyrinth – longer than many visitors expected, according to Randall – lined with lights and the scent of fresh evergreen.

From her vantage point at the organizer tent, Randall said she watched visitors enter and exit throughout the week.

“People walk out with smiles on their faces,” she said. “People gather by the fires, they talk, they reflect. It’s a beautiful experience.”

Children, she noted, are especially drawn to the spiraling path, often “running it with laughter,” while adults tend to walk more slowly, taking in the quiet and the scent of the trees. Though “escape holes” were built into the design for those who wanted to exit early, Randall said most people chose to complete the full circuit.

The inspiration for the labyrinth reaches back years earlier, to Randall’s time in Tucson, Ariz., where walking labyrinths were created during full moons and became a regular family ritual.

“It gave us moments we didn’t even know we needed,” she said. “You don’t have to decide where you’re going. You just follow the path.”

That sense of peace, she said, was something she wanted to bring to Chewelah.

Pulling off the installation, however, required an enormous amount of labor – and community trust. With little notice, volunteers were asked to help retrieve trees, build more than 100 wooden stands, string lights, and assemble the labyrinth in winter conditions that included rain, freezing temperatures and high winds.

“We ran out of lumber. We ran out of screws. The batteries of all the drills died in the cold,” Randall said.

The response, she said, was overwhelming, adding that residents brought scrap wood, pallets, extension cords, tools, and food. One local Zip’s employee arrived with steaming cups of hot cocoa on the coldest workday of the season, Randall said.

“I was asking the outrageous of my community,” Randall said. “And they said yes.”

Lighting the labyrinth presented its own challenges. While many lights were donated the first year, mixing incandescent and LED strands proved problematic, Randall said. This year, the theater invested in 50 new boxes of LED lights, but even that wasn’t enough for the expanded layout. Randall said she ultimately made a last-minute trip to Spokane Valley to purchase remaining LED lights from Windermere Ace Hardware to complete the circuit.

As the labyrinth comes down, live trees will be chipped by a local arborist, while stands, lights and artificial trees are carefully stored for future years. Randall said much of the infrastructure is now in place, making future builds more manageable – though she said she’s already planning ahead for more lights.

In reflecting on the project, Randall said the labyrinth is as much about community as it is about contemplation.

“This community stands together,” she said. “I am so humbled by the gift so many people gave to make this happen.”