Boston Christmas Tree

Tree on Boston Common, December 2010

The Boston Christmas Tree is the City of Boston, Massachusetts's official Christmas tree. A tree has been lit each year since 1941,[1] and since 1971 it has been given to the people of Boston by the people of Nova Scotia in thanks for their assistance during the 1917 Halifax Explosion. The tree is lit in the Boston Common throughout the Christmas season.

Halifax explosion

On December 6, 1917 at 9 am, the Halifax Explosion severely destroyed much of the city. Boston authorities learned of the disaster by telegraph, and quickly organized and dispatched a relief train around 10 pm to assist survivors. A blizzard delayed the train, which finally arrived in the early morning of December 8, and immediately began distributing food, water, and medical supplies. Numerous personnel on the train were able to relieve the Nova Scotia medical staff, most of whom had worked without rest since the explosion occurred. Nova Scotian children study the explosion in school and they know "Boston was one of the first responders, and really a lifesaver."[2][3]

Donation

Year Tree location Donator
2014 Purlbrook, Antigonish County John and Ethel Ann MacPherson[4]
2013 Mill Cove Mary Lou Milligan[5]
2011 Central Argyle Ken and Donna Spinney[6]
2010 Kentville Gary and Roseann Misner[3]
2008 Clementsvale, Annapolis County Craig and Marina Cook[7]
2007 Annapolis Valley Christopher and Lisa Hamilton[8]
2006 New Ross Alan and Antoinette Broome[2]
1972 Lunenburg County Joseph Slauenwhite[2]
1971 Lunenburg County Joseph Slauenwhite[2]

In 1918, the year after the explosion, Nova Scotia donated a large Christmas tree to the city of Boston in thanks and remembrance for the help the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee provided immediately after the Halifax Explosion.[7] Another tree was sent in 1971, and every year since.[7][9] The annual gift was started by the Lunenburg County Christmas Tree Producers Association to promote Christmas tree exports as well as acknowledge the Boston support after the explosion. The gift was later taken over by the Nova Scotia Government to continue the goodwill gesture and to promote trade and tourism.[10]

It is so important to the people of Nova Scotia that "people have cried over it, argued about it, even penned song lyrics in its honor."[2] Joseph Slauenwhite donated the first two trees.[2] The tree typically comes from the southern half of the province, but in 2014 the tree came from Antigonish County, in the north.[4]

The province also donates smaller trees to Rosie's Place and the Pine Street Inn, homeless shelters in Boston.[11]

Tree selection

The Christmas Tree Extension Specialist whose responsibility it is to select a tree is "always looking" for trees, and keeps a list of trees for years.[9][12][3] Most donors are "honored to give up their trees... [and] most will gladly watch their towering trees fall" since everyone knows the reason it is being sent to Boston.[2] Owners often would not normally "have dreamed of cutting down the big spruce Grandpa planted" but will "gladly part with it" when told it is going to Boston.[9] They "consider it a great honor" and say, 'Oh, my God, how can I refuse?"'[9] It is sometimes donated in memory of a family member who died in the explosion.[7] The process can be political as families vie to have their tree chosen.[2]

Specifications

Knowing its symbolic importance to both cities, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources has specific guidelines for selecting the tree. It must be an attractive balsam fir, white spruce or red spruce, 12 to 16 meters (40 to 50 feet) tall, healthy with good color, medium to heavy density, uniform and symmetrical and easy to access.[13] The trees do not usually come from tree farms, but from open land where they can grow tall and full.[2][9]

Christmas Tree Specialist

The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources Christmas Tree Specialist has the responsibility for selecting the tree each year. For the specialist the "tree can be elusive, the demands excessive, and the job requires remembering the locations of the best specimens in the province and persuading the people who own them to give them up for a pittance."[2] The first Specialist was Tom Ernst, and he was followed in the 1990s by Peter Romkey.[2] As of 2014, the Christmas Tree Extension Specialist responsible for selecting the Boston tree is Ross H. Pentz,[12] a position he has held since 2001.[8]

Tree cutting and ceremony

Before the tree is cut, each branch is individually tied to the trunk.[8] It takes two men a day and a half to prepare the tree to be cut down.[8] A crane holds the tree at the top while it is cut at the base by a chainsaw.[8]

The tree cutting ceremony has been described as "quite the local spectacle for Nova Scotians,"[14] and features representatives from the province, the United States Consulate in Halifax, the Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia, hundreds of local school children, a town crier, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Nova Scotia conservation officers, an Antigonish bagpiper, and Santa Claus.[4] The "regional media coverage [of the ceremony is] huge."[3]

In 2014, students and staff in the environmental technologies program at the Nova Scotia Community College Strait Area Campus cut down that year's tree.[4]

Transporting the tree

The tree travels over 750 miles (1,200 km) to Boston, with a stop at the Grand Parade in Halifax for a public send-off ceremony featuring a live musical performance by The Stanfields.[4] Attendees are also invited to sign a thank you book for Boston.[4] The tree travels by truck across Nova Scotia, then cruises on a ferry across the Bay of Fundy, continuing by truck through Maine and New Hampshire to Boston.[5]

In 2013, the tree was led out of Halifax by a group of runners in honor of victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.[5]

Tree arrival and lighting

The tree arrives in Boston under police escort.[11] In the same way that schoolchildren see the tree off in Nova Scotia, schoolchildren from Boston are on hand to welcome it to the Boston Common.[11]

The tree lighting takes place on the Common in late November or early December. The event is broadcast on WCVB and attracts about 20,000 people.[4] The 1998 tree required more than 3,200 man hours to decorate, as well as 4 1⁄2 miles (7 km) of wire and 17,000 multi-colored lights.[15] The 2006 tree was covered in 8,000 bulbs.[16]

The tree donated by Nova Scotia was placed at the Prudential Center from 1971[15] until 2002, when it was moved to the Boston Common because of planned development.[17]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christmas in Boston.

References

  1. ↑ San Fillipo, Juliette (November 7, 2012). "19 Holiday Events in Boston to Add to Your Calendar Right Now". BostonInno. Retrieved January 1, 2015. 71st Annual Boston Common Tree Lighting Ceremony - Thursday, Nov. 29
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 O'Brien, Keith (November 26, 2006). "Oh! Christmas tree". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kandarian, Paul (October 18, 2010). "Hub holiday tree a continued thanks from Nova Scotia". Boston.com. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "2014 Boston Tree Location A First" (Press release). Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. November 6, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hanson, Melissa (November 13, 2013). "From Nova Scotia with love: Boston’s Christmas tree begins its odyssey to the Common". Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  6. ↑ Dezenski, Lauren (December 1, 2011). "Multimedia: Christmas in Bean Town". Boston University's Daily Free Press. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "The Halifax Christmas Tree for Boston". University of Virginia Claude Moore Health Sciences Library. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Boston benefits from N.S. Christmas tree tradition". CanWest News Service. November 18, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Abraham, Yvonne (July 23, 2008). "He's checking it twice, Hub". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on January 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ Campbell, Mark (November 1993). "Tree Expert Picks Province's Annual Gift to Boston". Nova Scotia Magazine. p. 12.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Boston Christmas Tree Arrival". Boston Central. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ryan, Andrew (November 17, 2006). "From a Nova Scotia yard to light up the Common; City's Christmas tree is making 750-mile journey". Archived from the original on January 1, 2015.
  13. ↑ Janjigian Heald, Hana (December 15, 2006). "Nova Scotia's Christmas Tree gift to Boston has a Dedham connection" 14 (51). The Dedham Times. p. 3.
  14. ↑ Wang, Shan (November 17, 2014). "O Canada: Nova Scotia Is Throwing a Parade for Our Christmas Tree". Boston.com Staff. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Boston's Prudential Christmas Tree Has A History Of Its Own" (Press release). December 3, 1998. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  16. ↑ Zinck, Angie (22 November 2006). "Tree of thanks". LightHouseNow. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  17. ↑ Leccese, Mark (September 29, 2002). "'Tis Not: No Room At the Pru". The Boston Globe. p. 3.

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