It is the season when seemingly every newscast has a segment about “the tree.” I am not referring to the family debate whether your living room Christmas tree should be artificial or real. When we are approaching December 25th, there is only one tree that gets our collective attention. 

That tree is the one selected every year to be a symbol of Christmas and the holiday season. It is installed in front of 30 Rockefeller Center overlooking the ice-skating rink. The tradition of the Rockefeller Christmas tree goes back to the days of the great depression.

In 1926, the Metropolitan Opera was looking for a new location. They acquired 22 acres of land on Fifth Avenue. While they were busy making construction plans, the economic stability of the country was “rocked” by the stock market crash and great depression of 1929. 

In the previous paragraph you might have wondered why I put parenthesis around the word rocked. It was my attempt to use that word to foreshadow who stepped in and used his family’s fortunes to acquire the property. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. swept in and took ownership of the site after convincing companies like RKO, NBC and RCA to build a large entertainment complex comprised of 14 art deco-style buildings.

It was decided to make the complex visible from Fifth Avenue by providing an open promenade area leading to NBC’s 30 Rock building. On either side of the promenade on Fifth Ave would be the British and the French building. With those two countries on either side of the wide promenade, that space acquired the nickname of the “English Channel.”

So much for the history of the creation of Rockefeller Center. You might be wondering what all of that has to do with the Christmas tree. In December of 1930, the construction workers of the British building found a six-foot pine tree. They brought it to the promenade near their building and decorated it by hanging screws, nails, hammers, screw drivers and other construction necessities creating the look of ornaments. Rockefeller stood on the site that would become the skating rink. 

Noticing the crowds of passersby who stopped to look at the decorated tree near the British building, he told his nearby assistant that starting next year the site he is standing on would have the biggest most decorated Christmas tree in the world. In 1931, a 20-foot Balsam fir with ornate decorations beckoned people to enter the promenade and behold the holiday tree.

These days the head gardener at Rockefeller Center, Eric Puaze, is in charge of selecting the holiday tree. He contacts nurseries around the tri-state area looking for recommendations. To have the honor of having their tree selected many people submit pictures of their prized pine. Pauze chooses one based on its fullness, a shape resembling our image of the ideal Christmas tree and its ability to hold thousands of lights, ornaments and garlands that decorate the tree.

This year’s tree was donated by the McGinley family located in Vestal, NY just outside of Binghamton. This 80-foot-tall Norway Spruce is 43 feet wide and weighs close to 12 tons! It is hardy enough to hold the 900-pound Swarovski star that sits atop the tree.

After the holiday, the tree will be taken down and turned into lumber for housing and mulch that will be used to nourish plants and trees in the many parks and gardens around New York City.

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.