CityPossible: Three Steps for a Community Christmas Tree

Nation's first community Christmas tree goes up in New York
City's Madison Square Garden, 1912. Library of Congress

New York, Rio de Janeiro and Berlin all host community Christmas trees for the public to enjoy. But travel beyond the Americas and Europe, and you’ll discover this downtown tradition is practiced in cities around the world, from Lagos and Beirut to Seoul and Jakarta.

New York City is where the tradition started, say NYC historians Greg Young and Tom Meyers. It was 1912 when Madison Square Garden hosted a 60 foot tree from the Adirondacks, set in a block of cement and decorated with 1,200 colored lights, donated by the Edison Electric Light Company. The New York Times reported more than 25,000 showed up for the night-time lighting ceremony.

Burlington's tradition has been around for at least 75 years -- possibly longer. The Marketplace, our region's commercial and community center, has been the location for the City's community Christmas tree since our founding in 1981. Over the past thirty years, we've boiled down the way we find and place a tree on Church Street into important three steps.

Step One: Find a Family

The Hayes Family of Colchester donated
Church Street's community Christmas tree in 2013

There's still an abundance of majestic blue spruce trees within easy striking distance of Church Street. And, thankfully, our community is generous and loves Church Street.

Every year, families call us to offer up the trees in their yards. Some send us digital pictures. Others request a personal visit. Jim Daly, Church Street’s maintenance foreman, inspects every tree offered up and makes the final decision, based on size, shape, location (away from power lines, accessible to our crane) and ease of transport. The shape is important because people look at the tree from every angle, and it's the backdrop for thousands of photos. Height is also important. We look for trees to be from 40 to 50 feet tall.

Properly thanking families is important, too, especially when a tree offered isn't a fit for Church Street. When we finally select THE tree, we know there’s a unique story that comes with it. Grandparents or parents may have planted the tree. Young children most likely climbed it and the family wrapped it with lights every holiday season. There's a lot of meaning associated with each tree donated and acknowledging a family's donation is important. Each year, we attach a thank you card on a low branch that acknowledges the family donating the tree.

Step Two: Assemble the Team

The big day for cutting down and transporting the tree is ALWAYS the Friday before Black Friday. The day requires months of preparation.

Jim Daly, Church Street's always
"upbeat" maintenance foreman,
leads the team

Our team of seasoned contractors -- some who have been on our team for more than a decade -- assemble on the street in front of our donor’s house. The family meets us on their front lawn and everyone is welcomed and introduced.

The local news media are on hand, thanks to behind the scenes work by Church Street's long-serving marketing consultant, Becky Cassidy.

Church Street's hard-working maintenance foreman Jim Daly leads our team. Years and years of working together pay off. Everyone knows their role and every one is focused and on task. Few words are exchanged.

With great precision, BJ Barrett of Barrett’s Tree Service leads the cutting, while Dave Demag of Demag Riggers swings his 70 foot construction crane into place to lift the tree up and onto a waiting FairPoint Communications flatbed.

A Demag Riggers crane lifts Church Street's
Tree from a FairPoint flatbed truck
to Church Street's concrete tree stand

Time and attention are taken to insure the tree is properly secured to the flatbed. Our team then forms a procession of vehicles, and the tree moves from the neighborhood to Church Street, with a Burlington Police cruiser leading the way.

Once on Church Street, Dave Demag, with great precision, lifts the tree up and off the flatbed, then swings it around and down, into a large concrete culvert, donated by S.D. Ireland.

Billy Bellew of A. Marcelino & Company arrives with a load of gravel to fill in around the root of the tree.

Our top block, where the tree is placed, is notoriously windy. Cables are secured around the trunk of the tree and secured to one of four concrete anchors positioned around the base of the tree.

In 2002, because our tree was not properly anchored and it fell over -- twice! Needless to say, and knock on wood, we learned our lesson!

Step Three: Delight the community:

Mother and child react to lighting of Church Street's
Community Christmas Tree. Photo courtesy Burlington Free Press

The instant our tree goes up -- even before we string the 30,000 colored lights -- the photographing begins. When we see people having their pictures taken in front of the tree, we know we've made an important connection with the community. Photos start showing up on Flickr, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Amateur photographers have produced some of the most stunning photos of our tree and of Church Street during the holiday season.

On the night of our lighting ceremony, just before we turn on the 200,000 white lights up and down Church Street, there's always a dedicated crowd huddled around tree, located on our top block. Families and friends stand patiently in the cold, waiting for tree's 30,000 colored LED lights to be turned on. Seeing this each year reminds us just how important the event is to our community.

Included below is a photo of Church Street during the holidays, plus community Christmas Trees from around the world.