By Grace Graupe-Pillard

I have never seen a tree, whether at Rockefeller Center or The White House, that can compare to the ones that a New York City "five and dime" store on 181st Street, just off Broadway erected for Christmas, covered with glittering baubles, and flakes of snow, with the height and mass of a mountain crowned by a brilliant golden star. A tree that tapped into a child’s hunger for inspiration and enchantment.