The holiday tree at D.C.’s Columbia Heights Civic Plaza is … modest. The tree’s humility sparked a lot of spirited conversation online, and now the tree dubbed “Tiny Timber” is even a long sleeve t-shirt.

It all starts with a tweet from local Rebecca Rainey:

The Columbia Heights Christmas tree leaves a lot to be desired this year pic.twitter.com/TAsbGnRrJP

— Rebecca Rainey (@RebeccaARainey) December 2, 2022

People were quick to react to the tree’s size. “This photo doesn’t do it justice. It’s even more pathetic seeing it in person 😭” tweeted one individual. “I need some emergency legislation to fix this atrocity!!!!” tweeted another. Some people thought the Charlie Brown tree was rather fitting, given the sorry state of the world, while others didn’t get the joke.

While this reporter is not perturbed by the tree’s size, it is noticeably smaller than last year’s. It’s also pretty funny to think about a tree of that size adorning and lighting up a public space that’s almost 12,000 square feet.

How did Columbia Heights Civic Plaza end up with such a holiday tree? The local nonprofit District Bridges is responsible for procuring the tree, as well as general maintenance and safety around the plaza, and couldn’t get a donor as they did in years past, according to its executive director Brianne Dornbush. The nonprofit ended up getting the tree at a discounted rate from a past partner and local business, Logan Hardware.

The hardware store requested its vendor’s largest tree between 9 to 12 feet, according to Courtney Belew, the marketing director for A Few Cool Hardware Stores, and ended up with Tiny Timber. The holiday tree was actually 10 feet tall prior to installation, says Belew, but needed a fresh trim at the bottom so Tiny Timber can drink water. Belew says the more modest tree also worked with the funds available — some of which was donated and raised by Logan Hardware — as well as the labor and resources required to install a larger tree at the plaza.

“We were all kind of disappointed by the initial size, but we didn’t expect to get the amount of attention that we did,” says Dornbush of District Bridges. “When it ended up garnering so much attention, we were able to leverage that and really use it as an opportunity to talk about the work that we’re doing.”

District Bridges members met Monday and decided to embrace the moment. They voted on a name for their marketing miracle; it was between Baby Balsam, Sad Spruce, and Tiny Timber. Then they opted to make t-shirts, mugs, and a baby onesie to sell, with proceeds going to their efforts.

Didn’t know about District Bridges? You do now, thanks to Tiny Timber. The group has an initiative called Columbia Heights Civic Plaza For All, which aims to make the public space a hub for various community activities. “Without a cohesive plan to manage that space, it was really falling into disrepair and being neglected,” says Dornbush.

District Bridges has hosted dozens of events, including weekly farmers markets and summer salsa classes. Because people experiencing homelessness or struggling with substance misuse often hang out at the plaza, District Bridges also aims to connect neighbors to government services. The group says they’ve completed 900 hours of street outreach.

The people at the plaza are looking out for the tiny tree — one of them called District Bridges staff Wednesday afternoon to share that someone knocked over Tiny Timber, according to Dornbush. (Don’t fret, they propped the little guy back up and Tiny Timber will be ready for Saturday’s tree lighting and holiday artisan market.) “He’s still gaining a lot of attention, both positive and negative,” says Dornbush of their short king.

Want to get involved? She also encouraged people to volunteer in their neighborhood.

“A lot of that goes unknown and unseen,” says Dornbush, “And so opportunities like Tiny Timber give us a voice to say there is really important work being done.”

This post has been updated to include comment from Courtney Belew of A Few Cool Hardware Stores, and to include details about Tiny Timber’s tumble.