A town in Oklahoma has kicked off the holiday season with the ceremonial lighting of what's being billed as the "world's largest fresh-cut Christmas tree."
At a towering 140-feet tall, Enid's "The Christ Tree" is the height of 20 standard seven-foot trees stacked on top of each other.
To put the tree in perspective, the famous Rockefeller Christmas Tree in New York averages 77-feet tall.
Decorating a tree that size is no easy task, Enid officials say. City workers used boom lifts to adorn the tree with 20,000 multi-colored lights and 10,000 ornaments to prepare it for Christmas.
The tree was brought to Enid from the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California roughly 2,000 miles away, The Oklahoman reported. The giant tree is reinforced with steel and held up with tensioned cables to help it withstand wind and other elements.
On Friday, the switch was flipped on during a celebration that featured a parade of lights and fireworks. Tens of thousands of people attended the event, the Enid News & Eagle reported.
"It all comes together in one day, and you see those fireworks go off and see all of those smiling faces out in the crowd, and suddenly, it's all worth it," Natalie Rapp, executive director of Main Street Enid, told the newspaper. "It's so great to be a part of something like this."
The tree lighting kicks off a 40-day Christmas extravaganza in downtown Enid known as "The One." Event founder Kyle Williams said it's all about reminding people that Jesus is the reason for the season of celebration.
"It's something good, and we need something good in the world today," he told The Oklahoman.
The tree will remain up until January 3.
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