Harry the Hanukkah bush has been in his family for so many generations that his family can’t really remember who it was that started it, but they have a story as to why the tradition was started.

According to his father, someone in their family many generations back thought it was silly that Christians celebrated with Christmas trees. That family member thought that their family should start celebrating Hanukkah with a Hanukkah bush as a joke. His father doesn’t know how the name Harry came along, but he doesn’t think the name was originally included in the Hanukkah Bush tradition. The family, including aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and other relations, each put up their own Hanukkah Bush on the first day of Hanukkah and keep the bush up for the duration of the holiday, giving it Hanukkah gifts along with the rest of the family. Gifts often include alcohol and candy, which is distributed to the family after the holiday comes to a close.

The informant plans to continue the tradition with his own family. “It’d be a shame to let such a long-running family tradition die out on my end,” he said.