A family from north suburban Glenview has donated their tree to Chicago to use as the city’s official Christmas tree.
Crews cut down the 66-foot Norway Spruce Monday morning in front of a home on Pine Street.
The Mason family and their neighbors watched as workers used a chainsaw and a crane to place the 12,000-pound tree on an extendable truck.
Jim Williams with BrightView Landscaping said in the roughly 15 years they have worked with the city, this is the widest Christmas tree they’ve delivered.
Crews spent four days last week wrapping some of the lower branches that are an estimated 25-28 feet wide so they won’t break in transport.
11-year-old Evelyn Mason is relieved she can finally tell her classmates about the tree.
Her mother Jody says she has enjoyed having the evergreen, but it had started to cause problems with their home’s foundation.
While all that’s left in their yard is a massive stump, Mason says they have saved pinecones to propagate new trees with advice from her dad, who owns a tree farm in Indiana.
Neal Heitz, director of event production for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, called the city’s 112th Christmas tree a real winner.
“We knew as soon as we put eyes on it that this would be the tree for this year” he told WBBM.
The tree will make the trip to Millennium Park on Wednesday morning and will be lit for the season during a ceremony on November 21st.