If you’re planning on making the trip out to Bob’s Trees or any number of other tree farms in the Capital Region to pick up your Christmas tree this year, you’ve probably already done the legwork of measuring how high your ceilings are and figuring out how much space, widthwise, you’ll have to spare. It’s not an exact science, by any means—but it’s not one you want to mess up.
Now, try to imagine fitting a 75-foot-tall, 45-foot-wide Norway Spruce tree, weighing in at 11 tons, in your house. (Yep, not gonna happen.) That’s what New York City’s Rockefeller Center will be doing this year, having found its fabled Rock Center Christmas tree about an hour and 40 minutes southwest of Saratoga Springs in Oneonta on November 12. According to the Associated Press, the tree was donated by Daddy Al’s General Store in Oneonta and will be transported via flatbed truck to the Big Apple and put up in all its glory this Saturday, November 14.
The official Christmas tree lighting ceremony is scheduled for December 2. (Obviously, if you’re going to be down in the city for the ceremony, check the latest COVID-19 pandemic rules, regulations and restrictions.)
The Rockefeller Christmas tree has been a popular New York City attraction since it made its first appearance in 1931, then just a 20-foot-high balsam fir. Though it would seem like an obvious (and more convenient) choice to find a tree within the State of New York, the famed trees have come from other states such as Connecticut and as far off as Ohio (that one was flown to NYC on an Anatov 124 transport plane). Rockefeller Center even allows average people to “submit a tree” for possible inclusion.
This year’s Christmas tree, which is between 75-80 years old, will have 50,000 LED lights hanging on it and be topped by a 900-pound Swarovski star covered by 3 million crystals.
