Riverdale Mills Corporation, a Northbridge-based manufacturer of welded wire mesh, has deep ties to the small fishing village of Gloucester, Massachusetts. It’s appropriate that the company’s wire be used for a unique Christmas tree, as explained below.
Lobstering has deep roots in Gloucester, Massachusetts, which is home to the modern lobster trap. It also is at the heart of a special tradition that has evolved.
Gloucester’s Lobster Trap Tree, conceived by Janice Lufkin Shea in 2001, is the quintessential symbol for this lobstering community. For years, volunteers assembled wooden traps to create a trap tree, and each season it grew in height. Last year, organizers wanted to do something special for the town’s 400th anniversary: make the tree out of 400 lobster traps. They turned to Jim Knott, Jr., CEO of Riverdale Mills, whose company makes Aquamesh®, a wire mesh the company invented specifically for lobster traps. He donated 10,000 lb of the wire and then enlisted a long-time customer: Maine-based Brooks Trap Mills, which agreed to construct the traps.
The resulting 45-foot-tall “tree” in 2023 honored the city’s rich fishing history in a most appropriate community effort. The event was led by event organizer David Brooks. Cape Ann Art Haven organized painting sessions for local children who decorated the more than 800 buoys that adorn the tree. Some 3,000 people attended the ceremony. The tree was not just a holiday wonder. It proved to be sturdy, weathering winds of 70 miles per hour. It has also been sustainable, as the traps were later stored for future displays, and some have been lent out to youth groups.
Dozens of volunteers will soon again assemble the tree—which has its own Facebook page and has been written about in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Conde Nast Traveler—to be lit on Dec. 14.
One of the largest manufacturers of welded wire mesh for the marine, security, construction and agriculture industries, Riverdale Mills has long been part of other philanthropic giving and innovative partnerships with community organizers in Massachusetts’ Blackstone Valley, where the company is based. Yet for Jim Knott, Jr., the Lobster Trap Tree resonates in a special way. “Our involvement is a testament to our deep ties to the city of Gloucester and our enduring commitment to the lobster industry,” he said.