Jamestown, NY — Jamestown’s Parks and Recreation Department has selected this year’s Christmas tree for Tracy Plaza, continuing a long-standing tradition.
Crews began work early at 5AM, Friday November 14th, cutting down the 40-foot Douglas fir donated by the Messina family.
The tree was harvested from their property on Samson Street and removed by city Parks, Recreation, and Conservation crews, with assistance from the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities. Lakeshore Paving donated a truck and trailer to transport the tree to City Hall for display on Tracy Plaza.
Mayor Kim Ecklund said it was a special moment for the community.
“It was exciting to see all the little kids from the local daycares come down and hear the flatbed as it was coming in playing Christmas music. We really do have a tremendous crew on the Parks Department and it’s kind of a fun day for them as well, but everything has really comes full circle. My father was the city’s horticulturalist for years so this is very important, personally.”
City Parks Manager Dan Stone emphasized the team effort involved in putting up the tree each year.
“We just had a group of kids across the street, probably thirty kids watching us and they were all chanting raise the tree, raise the tree, so that was awesome. This just gets everyone in that spirit.”
Residents also stopped to watch the installation. Jamestown local Allison Murphy said the tree signals the beginning of the holiday season.
“It’s really nice to see everybody come together for this one moment, and you really get that Christmas spirit.”
Crews will begin decorating the tree soon. It will feature more than 3,000 LED lights and a specially constructed star. The tree will not be lit until Jamestown’s Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 6th, at 6:00PM.
This year’s parade theme is Holiday Movie Magic, and event organizers are encouraging everyone to come out and enjoy the start of the holiday season.