CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. — In early December, FOX 17 came across a Facebook post that highlighted a larger-than-life Christmas tree at someone's home in Cedar Springs.
"If this is your house, thank you. Your giant tree makes me happy every time I see it," the poster wrote in their caption above a photo of the tree.
While the comments made it clear everyone in the city knows about the tree and loves it, there were come conflicting beliefs about its backstory.
So, FOX 17 went to find out.
Our first stop took us to Cedar Springs City Hall to speak with City Manager Darla Falcon, who moved there in 2016.
“Shortly thereafter, the talk was, 'Does the tree need work this year?' I'm like, 'What tree?' 'The Cossin tree.' 'Okay, what's the Cossin tree?'”
That was our first discovery.
It's called the Cossin tree — as in Evelyn Cossin, the former homeowner at 427 Main Street.
The city didn't have any pictures of her or any real information other than a document that outlined Ms. Cossin's dying wish: leaving the city $15,000 to maintain and light the Christmas tree every year.
"Have you ever heard of someone doing something like that?" we asked.
"I'm going on 30 years of municipal experience, and this is not the norm," Falcon replied.
That was a good start, but we were nowhere near satisfied.
Falcon sent us to the Cedar Springs Historical Museum to continue our search.
And search we did.
It was all hands on deck, flipping through old articles and city logs for anything that mentioned Ms. Cossin or the tree.
As a couple volunteers tore the place apart, we sat down with Sharon Jett, the museum's director, who knew Ms. Cossin personally.
“Every time she went past that house, she fell in love with it again," Jett said. "She told her friends, too, 'If that house ever goes up for sale, tell me. I want it.'”
There we have it — our next clue.
Turns out Ms. Cossin lived on the east coast, but when the house went on the market in 1983, she purchased it and moved to Cedar Springs.
It was at this time those volunteers hit the jackpot, finding article after article that showed the Christmas tree filling the front page.
Then, one volunteer found a memorial note for Ms. Cossin. It said she passed in 1988 at 74 years old.
The funeral services were held by Rev. Lawrence Young, whose brother-in-law Charles Reep just so happens to be the current owner of the Cossin home.
“We came back here and put a bid on it and got it," Reep said.
"Did you know about this tree before that?" we asked.
"No, that was a ... that was a surprise for us," he said.
Reep, who just wanted to restore an old Victorian home after moving from Southern California, is now the unofficial curator of the Cossin archives.
An old newspaper article he laid out for us mentioned the tree was first lit in 1985.
At that time, Reep said the tree had around 4,300 lights on it.
Now, the 90-foot-tall Norway spruce only has 1,600 lights, but as of this year, they're all LEDs.
Their romantic illumination constantly seduces people to the property.
The city foots Reep's electric bill during the five weeks the tree is lit. It's about $200 every year, Falcon said.
Even after all this time, the Cossin account still has $10,000 left in it, so we are far from the final chapter of this magical tale.
There you go — with a little help, we turned all those rumors into reality.
Reep said if you want to come check out the tree, you only have a few days left to do so.
When the New Year begins, the lights go out until the day after Thanksgiving, when the tree becomes the main attraction on Main Street once again.