‘Elmo Tree’ Deep in a Plymouth, Massachusetts, Forest Baffles Hiker
Kids for generations have been asking, “Can you tell me how to get to ‘Sesame Street?’” But Julie Silvia may have found the portal into “Elmo’s World.”
Silvia had a friend visiting from central Massachusetts on Sunday, and they were looking for a spot to go hiking that would be new for both of them. Silvia frequently hikes throughout the Plymouth area, but thought she would give the Wishbone trail a go, inside the Myles Standish State Forest.
Using a trail finder app, the two friends embarked upon the eight-mile journey. At about the six-mile mark, crossing an overgrown path back to Bentley Loop, they discovered something very unusual—a large pine tree covered in Elmo dolls.
The dolls were nailed to the tree; others were placed around it.
“We were actually walking through some poison ivy, so it wasn’t like it was right out on the trail. And it was just very random,” Silvia told Fun 107. “Some of them were just regular Elmos, but some of them were the Tickle-Me-Elmo kind, and quite a bit of them still had batteries in them.”
And there was zero indication as to why they were out there.
“There’s no memorial, no vibe that this is some horrible thing,” Silvia said. “It’s just a bunch of Elmos stuck to a tree. We were exhausted, it was 90 degrees, so we were like, ‘whatever, it’s just a bunch of Elmos.’”
Silvia and her friend took some photos and continued on with their hike.
“When I got home, I started Googling it, and couldn’t find anything except others who had seen it,” she said. “Nobody knows what it is. All these people have assumptions, though, and I get a kick out of everyone trying to explain it.”
Silvia said some theories online suggested it could be some kind of memorial for either 33-year-old Mary Masters, who was murdered in that area in 1977, or 15-year-old Tracy Gilpin, who was killed in the forest in 1986.
“That just wouldn’t make sense, because Elmo wasn’t really a thing when either of them were alive,” she said (Elmo debuted on Sesame Street in November of 1985).
Stumped by the tree, Silvia took to the “All Things Plymouth” Facebook page, which she described as a “townie” page where she figured someone would know the answer. Instead, she just got more speculation. She also blogged about it on her webpage, hoping that maybe some answers will come to light.
“I think whoever did it, in my opinion, did it to get a rise out of the hikers, because no regular people are going to find that thing,” she said. “It’s kind of interesting that it’s gotten so much attention.”
When reached for comment, the rangers at the State Forest told our partner site, Fun 107 they had not heard about the Elmo tree, and couldn’t speculate as to why it might be out there.
“I’m not surprised,” Silvia said, considering the tree’s remote location.
Silvia said she’s just as happy not to solve the mystery if that ends up being the case.
“Who the hell knows what it’s about,” Silvia said. “But it’s kind of like Santa Claus when you never really wanted to find out. So let’s just leave it.”