What an unbeleafable sight!
After a four-hour journey from upstate New York, this year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has finally arrived at the Plaza.
And she’s marvelous!
“I’m always amazed at the massive crowd that shows up here. Hundreds of people to give the tree a good New York welcome,” said Saturday TODAY’s Joe Fryer, who was on board with the spruce as it entered the Plaza. “It’s like a parade with one float, and this beautiful Norway spruce is the Grand Marshal.”
The Norway Spruce, which stands at a whopping 76 feet and weighs 11 tons, hails from the rural hamlet of West Edmeston.
Its trek to midtown Manhattan involved a ride in a 100-foot-long trailer.
After its arrival, the tree is then lifted off the trailer by a crane, suspended in mid-air, and then carefully positioned into its spot.
The spruce, donated by owner Rebecca Decker, has been growing for more than seven decades. Rockefeller Center head gardener Erik Pauze, who’s tasked with finding the Christmas tree each year, told TODAY he first spotted the tree six years ago. Its shape was what really what sold him.
“I knew it was perfect,” Pauze said.
Pauze contacted Decker a few years later, and the tree owner was shocked.
Saturday TODAY's Joe Fryer rides with the tree into the Plaza.TODAY“Erik actually came and knocked on the door and said, ‘That’s a really nice tree,’” Decker recalled. “And I thought that he was absolutely joking.”
Decker, who said that she “never once” thought that her tree would carry the mantle of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, says she initially believed that the ask “was fake at first.”
“She did look at me kinda funny,” Pauze said of that early interaction.
Now, Decker says she appreciates the tree’s beauty even more. And might actually have a bit of trouble parting with it.
“I’m actually a little sad to see it leave now,” she told Joe. “Now I don’t really know how the yard’s going to look without it.”
Still, the mom of three is stoked to witness her tree’s New York City debut with her family.
“To me, it’s pretty big,” she said. “I am super excited for them to be able to experience this.”
With the tree officially in its new home, the spruce will now undergo weeks of decorating. The makeover will consist of more than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights, along with a 900-pound Swarovski star, dripping in three million crystals.
By Dec. 2, the spruce will be all dolled up for the tree lighting ceremony.
English (US) ·