Each December for the past half-century, the 1,300-foot-high Cerro San Luis mountain in central SLO suddenly gets 60 feet taller—and brighter—with the arrival of a towering Christmas “tree” of lights that sparkles at its peak.
For the past 23 years, SLO County can thank one man for keeping the tradition going strong: Madonna Inn Senior Maintenance Engineer Ted Sabatini.
“I started putting that tree up in my 30s … and now I’m in my 60s,” Sabatini told New Times with a laugh. “And they were putting it up long before I came along.”
The tradition dates back to the 1970s. Cerro San Luis peak is technically the property of the Madonna Inn. One year, famous hoteliers Alex and Phyllis Madonna felt extra festive and decided that the mountain needed some holiday décor—kicking off the now-beloved tradition.
When Sabatini took over the holiday duties in 1999, he said the tree was in its “second generation” of design, which had some flaws.
“In the mid ’90s, it was made out of aluminum and it was a big, long fly rod,” he said, chuckling. “That finally blew over like three times in one season, and the following season, I went to Mr. Madonna and asked him if I could redesign the tree.”
Sabatini’s third-generation tree uses stacked aluminum lighting trusses—like what you see on concert stages—to create a more stable “trunk,” which gets securely bolted to a steel pole on the peak. Then, lights are threaded through and pinned down around the truss in the shape of a Christmas tree.
“In homage to the old tree, I cut off the top of the old tree [and put it on top of the truss],” Sabatini said. “It’s been very reliable. It hasn’t blown down in the 18 years since I changed the design.”
Installing the tree each winter is a team effort that involves the help about three or four other Madonna Inn workers. Sabatini said he targets Dec. 1 for the ceremonial undertaking—weather permitting.
“I put the whole tree on my pickup truck,” he said. “We drive it up to the stage [at the peak], offload it there, and hike it up the very top. There are more than 1,000 light bulbs and we kind of run the strands up like a flagpole, trying to raise it up without breaking any lightbulbs. And you have about 20 hikers watching you.”
Each evening in December, Sabatini drives up the mountaintop himself to turn the diesel generator that powers the lights on, inspecting the tree beforehand for broken or stolen lightbulbs.
Community anticipation for the tree always amazes Sabatini. He usually gets calls in October and November from residents asking when it will be up and lit. During December, locals won’t hesitate to let him know if they can’t see the tree. Usually, it’s because of cloud cover, he said.
“People will be calling my wife,” he said, laughing. “She has friends who are nurses who drive to work at 4 a.m. They’ll call her and say, ‘I came to work and the tree isn’t lit!'”
Even though it can be grueling work, Sabatini said he doesn’t take for granted the important role he plays in helping the community celebrate the holidays and carry on a tradition.
“It is very cool. I’m very honored to do it,” he said. “When I go up on Christmas Eve to light the tree, usually there’s a bunch of people sitting up there waiting for the tree to be lit. I’ll find the youngest kid up there and ask him if he wants to light the tree, to throw the switch. I tell them the whole story: ‘Now you’re one of a very small number of people to light the tree.’ Usually there’s a lot of pictures being taken.
“That really is the most fun part of putting the tree up, is doing that on Christmas Eve.”
While Sabatini doesn’t know how many more winters he has left at the helm of the tree tradition, or who will carry on the mantle after him, he can’t imagine it ever going away. With the city of SLO recently “legalizing” winter night hiking on Cerro San Luis (just don’t forget to reserve a permit beforehand—it’s required), locals will again make the trek this December to catch an up-close glimpse of the towering lights.
“I think it’s cool that they do it as long as they’re respectful—who’s not going to see the ball drop in Times Square?” Sabatini said. “That’s our ball. That’s our tradition.” Δ
Reach Assistant Editor Peter Johnson at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Holiday Guide 2022.