SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — From twinkling lights to wreaths… Christmas ornaments are going up across KELOLAND. Today a major decorating project got underway along Minnesota Avenue, in Sioux Falls.

Most people don’t need a vanload of lights to decorate a tree… But this isn’t just any evergreen.

It’s Dorothy’s tree.

The towering Minnesota Avenue tree has been a merry mile marker since the 1990s… Ever since Dale Weir took his wife Dorothy on a drive down the busy Sioux Falls street.

“She said you always ask what I want for Christmas. I want you to decorate that tree. I said what? She said I want you to decorate that 50-foot tree there,” Dale told KELOLAND News in 2003.

Dale got Dorothy exactly what she wanted.

“She didn’t believe I’d get it done!”

With help from an electric company, Dale has made sure the Minnesota Avenue tree is decorated every year… Even after his death.

“I’ve got a trust set up. That tree will be decorated from now on every Christmas for Dorothy,” Dale said. “She’ll always be able to see it.”

When Dale passed on a local church took over the holiday tradition of lighting up Dorothy’s tree from Thanksgiving until after Christmas.

That’s not the only lasting impact the couple had on the city. They also donated the land on the east side of town, which is now Arrowhead Park.