Christmas tree travels to Afghanistan

Christmas trees often travel short or long distances to their final Christmas destinations. The tree that members of St. Mary's community in Colts Neck sent to a parishioner traveled more than 6,700 miles to Afghanistan.

Pupils of the St. Mary's religious school in Colts Neck (below) show the Christmas cards they made for and sent to U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jeff Cantor (above), a St. Mary's parishioner who is serving in Afghanistan. The parish also arranged to have a Christmas tree sent to Cantor, and that tree (above) is now bringing a measure of cheer to men and women who are spending the holiday season far away from their loved ones at home. The St. Mary's parishioner was Jeff Cantor of Marlboro, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve Unit 353 out of Staten Island, N.Y. He is in the midst of a nine-month tour of duty in Afghanistan and is assigned to civil affairs duty that brings him into regular contact with the Afghan population.

Cantor, who is also a member of the Marlboro Township Council, sent an email to his pastor, the Rev. Thomas Triggs, and asked if anyone donates any small Christmas trees at this time of year.

"There is no way to get a tree over here and it would certainly raise the morale of all the troops if we were able to put up a tree," Cantor said via the email. "Let me know if anyone has donated one."

When Triggs received Cantor's email in mid-November, he set to work saying that the task "was something we could certainly do."

He purchased a 4½-foot tall prelighted artificial tree with a star for the top and contacted the director of the church's religious school, Joan Celiano, for her help.

Celiano then asked the teachers and the students in all the classes of grades one through five to make Christmas cards and decorations for the tree. Approximately 500 students and their teachers were involved with the project, she said.

"The children were really excited and had fun making the cards," said Celiano. "They decorated the cards that were made from construction paper with drawings and stickers and wrote messages to the service personnel."

In addition to "Merry Christmas," the children's messages included: "Hope your transportation doesn't break down," "Thank you for your bravery," "Come home safe" and "You are in our prayers."

In addition to the cards, Celiano asked each class to compose a blessing for the armed forces personnel in Afghanistan. A sample of the blessings were: "May God bless you and keep you safe" and "May God protect you and bring you home safe and soon."

In four days the teachers, students and pastor of St. Mary's prepared a Christmas tree with cards and religious decorations. The tree was presented to Ava Cantor, Jeff's wife, for mailing on Nov. 20.

"We appreciate the support of the parish and know that the service personnel will be excited to receive the tree, especially when it has a connection to home and that children made the decorated cards," she said.

The Cantors have two daughters, Nicole, 10, a fifth-grade pupil who attends the Marlboro Elementary School, and Samantha, 12, a seventh grade pupil at the Marlboro Middle School. Nicole goes to St. Mary's religious education classes and made a card there for her father, while Samantha made her own.

This year marks the second time Cantor is serving a tour of duty during the Christmas holidays. From 2003 to 2004 he was deployed to Iraq.

"We're counting down the days until Jeff comes home," said Ava Cantor, who is an instructional assistant at the Asher Holmes School. "The Christmas holidays are a tough time for us and all families who are separated at this time of year. It's especially hard for us in the food department since Jeff is our chef."

The Cantors have been members of St. Mary's parish for about three years.