I Guess Christmas Is On Its Way!

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Well, I am the type of person who believes the Christmas season doesn't begin until after Thanksgiving. I get annoyed by seeing holiday commercials now, decorations up, and merchandise in the stores. It's too early for the Christmas season....it's only.......oh wow, it's the second week of November already! Yikes! Where does time go?

Anyways, I'm sitting at Hartsdale FD Station 1 last night, about 2300, preparing to settle in for the evening. All of a sudden, I see lights flashing and a State Trooper speed south down Central Ave. I look north on Central Ave, and I see what looks like a parade. The next thing you know, the ROCKEFELLER CENTER CHRISTMAS TREE is coming down Central Ave, with quite an entourage.

It was exciting to see this famous tradition making its way through the neighborhood where I work and live. It was about 20 feet tall on the trailer. From what I understand, it's been planned to be the 2006 Christmas tree for 9 years now, and hails from Ridgefield,CT.

Now, I am starting to get excited for the holidays, and can't wait to see this tree sitting in Rockefeller Center all dressed and lit up!!

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[Guest]

I love this time of year. Looks Like a Great Tree. Hopefully it does not have alot of spaces/gaps. Last years had a few. I go to RockeFeller Center every year to go see the tree. I can't wait.

Edited November 10, 2006 by NRFDTL11Buff

[DOC22 1]

This article is from the Danbury News Times

Nov 10 2006 4:27 AM

Oh, Christmas tree

Ridgefield family's 88-foot Norway spruce headed for Rockefeller Center

Yeh You're right Seth How the time does fly!!!!!!!!!

By Susan Tuz

The News-Times

  | | |   

An 88-foot-tall Norway spruce at the home of Rob and Deborah Kinnaird on Peaceable Hill Road in Ridgefield was cut down Thursday to become the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

RIDGEFIELD -- Rob Kinnaird grew up climbing the Norway spruce at his family home on Peaceable Hill Road. He never dreamed that one day the tree would grace Rockefeller Center.

But that's exactly what will happen.

On Thursday morning, the 9-ton, 88-foot tall spruce was cut down and loaded on a 115-foot long flatbed trailer to begin its journey to New York City.

"This is the part I've been waiting for," Kinnaird said as the tree was lifted by a huge crane and moved to the flatbed. "I love trucks and bulldozers. This is absolutely amazing. This tree has been here my whole life and now, near the end of its life, it is famous."

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree team first approached Kinnaird about the possibility of using the tree several years ago. The team scouts the country looking for just the right trees and lines them up years in advance -- then hopes no wind storm or lightning strike takes them down.

"It's rare when a tree gets to be 88 feet tall and so perfectly formed," said David Murbach, manager of the gardens division of Rockefeller Center, who made the final decision to choose Kinnaird's tree. "This was a very lucky choice. It was the most beautiful tree I saw, a dark green with this wonderful way it held its branches."

Kinnaird and his wife, Deborah, reveled in the weeks before the tree cutting, helping the staff of tree workers who descended on their property to plan how to take the tree down.

"Once you're in it, it doesn't seem that high because you can't see out because of all the branches," Kinnaird said, noting the tree's sentimental value.

The Kinnaird family has owned the property for six decades, and the spruce has graced the side yard for more than 80 years. Kinnaird grew up climbing it as did his two children, Emily, now 22, and Lance, 19.

Deborah Kinnaird said she has enjoyed the spruce for the last three years since marrying Kinnaird. "Where I'm from, we have a lot of pine trees, so this tremendous Norway spruce was truly a new sight for me," she said. "I said 'God bless this exquisite tree. God bless you in your new location' when I heard the tree had been chosen."

The hardest thing for her was not being able to tell her friends and family back in Louisiana the exciting news until the day of the actual cutting.

The Kinnairds donated the tree to the center. In return, they get the excitement and celebrity of "having a big tree," Kinnaird said, with a laugh. Today, they are at Rockefeller Center to see the tree erected. On Nov. 29, they will be given VIP treatment in New York City and will watch from special seats as the tree is lighted with about 30,000 multi-colored bulbs.

"We get to be the holiday kick-off ambassadors," Kinnaird said.

Murbach oversaw the removal of the tree and will see that the Kinnairds' lawn is landscaped where the tree previously stood. He looks forward, as he does every year, to the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center.

"When the tree is lit, it brings back memories of family and tradition and happiness for millions of people," Murbach said. "And this tree is the catalyst for all that."

Contact Susan Tuz

at stuz@newstimes.com

or at (203) 731-3352.

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Rockefeller Center tree history

1931: Construction workers put up the first tree on a muddy construction site.

1933: The first formal tree lighting ceremony, with 700 lights, took place at the new RCA building.

1936: Two 70-foot trees were lighted and the new Ice Skating Pond featured the ceremony's first skating pageant.

1942: Three trees -- one decorated in red, another in white and the third in blue -- were used to support World War II troops.

1949: The tree was painted silver, to look like snow.

1966: The first tree from outside the U.S. was used. It was donated by Canada to celebrate the centennial of its Confederation.

1971: The tradition of recycling the tree begins. Since 1974, the mulch from the tree -- about three tons -- has been donated to the Boy Scouts of America.

1999: The largest tree in Rockefeller Center history -- 100 feet tall -- came from Killingworth, Conn.

2004: The Swarovski-designed star, the largest star to ever grace the tree, measures 9?1„2 feet in diameter and 1?1„2 feet deep and is adorned with 25,000 crystals and 1 million facets.

Source: www.ny.com and www.rockefellercenter.com

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How to get your tree noticed

To get noticed by the Rockefeller Christmas Tree team it should be:

n Tall, dense and shapely

n A Norway spruce

n Between 75 and 90 feet tall

n At least 35 feet wide

n Dense enough to prevent the sky from showing through

Got it? Send a photo of your tree with a person standing next to it to:

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

45 Rockefeller Plaza

12th Floor

New York, NY 10111

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IFyou go

What: Lighting of the 2006 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

When: Nov. 29 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Where: Rockefeller Center, 47th-51st streets between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, Manhattan.

Lights on: Tree will be illuminated daily from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. through Jan. 8, plus all Christmas Day and from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. New Year's Eve.

More info: Call (212) 632-3975.