Family Tree Plays Theme Like A Drum

It wasn’t obvious to Stan and Melissa Drumm when they married in 1987 that their surname was a ready-made theme for a Christmas tree.

Not until a friend gave them a tiny wreath ornament on the occasion of their first Christmas together. In the center was a drum painted with their name “Drumm.”

“It hit me,” says Melissa. “I said ‘Oh my goodness, I have my own theme.”’ A delightful realization for a woman who had grown up with theme trees.

“Themes are very big in my family,” she says. “When I was a girl, we always had musical trees - ornaments of notes or sheet music - because our family is musical. I have four sisters and each has a theme tree. My older sister has 12 theme trees in her house.”

And so began the Drumm’s drums. Stan and Melissa now have 133 drums adorning their 7-foot, white-flocked tree. With room for about 200 more, Melissa notes.

There are bears with drums, soldiers with drums and Santas with drums.

There are drums of wood and brass and glass.

There are metallic drums, Chinese drums and sand-covered drums.

There are drums in a Southwest motif and drums in red, white and blue Americana.

One of Melissa’s favorites, given to her by Stan, is a bear seated on a drum with tiny wind chimes underneath that ring softly in a breeze.

The most elaborate drum was made by Melissa’s sister - a stained-glass ornament that looks three-dimensional, with a blue and red drum in the middle and drumsticks on top.

This plethora of percussion begs the question, do either of the Drumms play the drums?

“No!” says Melissa, with a chuckle. “I am a singer and voice teacher and my husband is not musical at all, but it’s nice to have a musical name.”

The Drumms’ collection is not only a whimsical hobby, but a visual reminder of friendships and memories.

Each ornament is recorded in a book with the year it was added and its story.

Melissa estimates half her ornaments have come from friends.

Very nice friends, some from very far-away places.

“I just received one from Germany. It is from Rothenburg and the drum is gold and white with hand-painted carvings on top.”

She has another drum from Israel, but most of the drums are found throughout the country in boutiques, flea markets and garage sales.

“I have one friend who has made it a personal quest to find drums for me.”

The drum theme did not occur to others in the Drumm family until Stan and Melissa began their collection. “Now everyone in Stan’s family does drums,” says Melissa.

“I think everyone needs a theme in their life and if one is given to you, you just take it.”