77th Annual Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting

The 2009 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be illuminated for the first time this holiday season on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, with performances from 7:00pm-9:00pm. The two-hour long program features various celebrity appearances and a star-studded musical lineup. The tree will be lit daily from 5:30 A.M.-11:30 P.M.; all day on Christmas (24 hours); and from 5:30 A.M.-9 P.M. on New Year's Eve. The world's most famous Tree will be on display until January 7th, 2010.

From the Connecticut Post:
The 76-foot-tall Norway spruce that will be set up early Thursday morning in Rockefeller Center in New York City has hometown roots.

The towering tree, which will be the centerpiece for the midtown Manhattan landmark's Christmas festivities, was chopped down Wednesday on the North Park Avenue property of Maria Corti.

About 160 neighbors, relatives and the curious turned out for the tree-cutting operation, joined by dozens of staffers from Rockefeller Center, who were handing out green sweatshirts, red scarves and assorted breakfast treats. The activity turned usually placid North Park Avenue into a beehive of activity, with about 60 cars parked up and down the street and a detail of Easton police officers assigned to direct traffic.

"I called Rockefeller Center last spring, thinking that I had a possible tree for Christmas," Corti said, adding that she moved into the ranch home only about a year ago. "They suggested that I send in a picture of the tree with someone in the picture for proportion. So, that's what I did."

Corti said that she figured she probably would never hear from Rockefeller Center again. "I thought: 'That would be the end of that,' so to speak, because I'm sure a lot of people write in thinking that they have a tree worthy enough for Rockefeller Center."

Corti, a fifth-grade teacher at Cider Mill School in Wilton, said that within a few days, she was contacted by David Murbach, Rockefeller Center's gardens manager.

"Actually, it is a tough job," Murbach said when asked about how he goes about finding the perfect tree. "It's one in a million. You think that there are a lot of good trees around, but they're not perfect like the ones that we need. We look for perfection."

Murbach said that he goes aloft in a helicopter to find the showcase trees. From the chopper, Murbach said that he spotted the Corti spruce from miles away.

"I was hoping that it was someone else's tree, because then I'd have one for next year," he said. "She turned out to be one of the sweetest people that we ever had to deal with."

Corti's tree has a "double trunk," which provides it with greater branch density, makes it easier to mount the star and results in fewer broken branches when it's moved, Murbach said. "We've been using double trunks for a number of years."

It grew quickly because it was situated over the septic tank. Still, he said that his staff fertilized the tree throughout the spring and summer to fill it out a little more.

At about 10 a.m. Wednesday, the lumberjacks' buzz saws fell silent and the tree, already supported by a huge crane, was lifted off of its stump and lashed onto a 115-foot tractor-trailer flatbed for the trip to New York City.

A flock of grade school children immediately descended onto the stump to count the rings.

"Forty-three!" confidently announced Kate McKinnon, an 11-year-old student at West Rock Middle School in Norwalk. "I counted twice." She was with her 6-year-old sister, Claire, and both said that they would be sure to see the tree after it's decorated.

The tree-lighting ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 2 and it will be broadcast live on WNBC-TV, Channel 4.

Meanwhile, Murbach said that his crew will restore Corti's backyard "better than it was before."

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Comment by Bob on November 13, 2009 at 6:31pm

Thanks Mike!