It’s a Christmas tradition that has lasted for over 60 years.

Ed and Susan Conner started gifting each other a Christmas tree ornament before they were married. The first ornaments were exchanged in 1957, after Susan had been given the idea for a Christmas book.

The two Gloucester natives were married in 1960, and have kept their tradition going through moves, fallen trees and decades of Christmas mornings.

Early on, their tree was quite small, and mostly devoid of ornaments, aside from the neutral decorative icicles they used to fill it up. Over the years the tree has grown, and the icicles have figuratively melted away to make room for their ever-growing collection of ornaments.

Christmas is a big time for the Conner family. Ed and Susan both grew up with the Southern traditional large gatherings of family, with lots of food. Ed, one of 10 children, is used to large gatherings. One Christmas, they had so much family come, that they had to move the festivities to the undeco...