Sherman Library & Gardens ‘Wishing Tree’ taking requests from those who dare to dream

There are many ways to convey a wish — a shooting star, four-leaf clover or a penny tossed into a fountain — but those short on good luck tokens need look no further than Sherman Library & Gardens.

That’s where staff have set up a Wishing Tree that lets visitors to the Corona del Mar botanical garden write their sincerest desires and hopes onto cards and tie them into the branches of a California pepper tree.

The tradition began 10 years earlier during the site’s annual Night of 1,000 Lights holiday event as a way for people to welcome in the New Year, according to library director Jill Thrasher. The practice dates back centuries and is found in many cultures.

“It ties into the holidays, Santa Claus’ wish list and things people are hoping for in the year to come,” Thrasher said. “Some of them are for objects, some are for health and happiness, and some are really sad. Whatever it is, we leave it.”

Messages hang from the Wishing Tree, a California pepper tree, at Sherman Library & Gardens on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Initially, a Japanese maple tree near the gardens’ conservatory served as a repository for wishes. But the response from visitors was so immense, the wishes overwhelmed the modest maple and a new Wishing Tree had to be found.

A stately California pepper tree — planted in 1938 by Lawrence and Pauline Lushbaugh, former landowners and builders of the site’s historic adobe house — seemed fit for the task and has ably borne wishes for the past few years.

Nestled among its branches and panicles and tied on by gold ribbons, some wishes are humorous, while others are ambitious, describing new cars and lotto winnings, and still others constitute endearing pleas for health, recovery, salvation and life.

I wish that Poppop wins at the casino. I wish for peace on Planet Earth. A Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road in charcoal or white this coming year. Sleep. Peace in Ukraine. A baby brother! Let’s hope 2023 will be a better year.

Light rain showers in Newport Beach Friday ruined plans Clara Girgis had made with a group of college friends to go hiking and brought them instead to Sherman Gardens and the base of the majestic pepper tree, where they took a moment perusing hopes and dreams before adding a few of their own.

Clara Girgis, from left, Mira Sadek, Merna Fahmy and Mira Fahmy write down wishes Friday near Sherman Garden’s Wishing Tree.

(Sara Cardine)

“It’s really cute,” the 22-year-old Mira Loma resident said of the display. “I think it’s good, especially for the end of the year, to see what other people are wishing for and put your hopes up on the tree.”

Girgis personally wished to get accepted into a school program for physician assistants. Friend Merna Fahmy, 20, similarly wished to nab an interview for a similar school program.

“I think I want to come back and see if I got my wish,” the 21-year-old La Palma resident told her sister Joy and friend Mira Sadek.

Visitors read dozens of messages, both for personal and global dreams, on the Wishing Tree at the Sherman Library & Gardens on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“I’ll probably know by the end of the year,” Girgis said of the fate of her own academic ambition. “Should we come back?”

“Yeah, I’ll come back with you,” Fahmy said.

Thrasher, who personally cut out 8,000 wish cards, said the Wishing Tree will be up and taking requests at least through Jan. 25 for anyone who dares to dream. Although it seems like a whimsical endeavor, she added, it is also an exercise in hope.

“You never know where wishes go,” she said.

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