Manchester (Connecticut) spruce chosen for Rockefeller Center

The Hartford Courant ^ | November 11, 2003 | Associated Press

[nutmeg]

Associated Press

MANCHESTER, Conn. -- A Connecticut tree is destined to spruce up Rockefeller Center for the holiday season.

Officials confirmed late Monday that a Manchester family's 79-foot Norway spruce has been chosen as the 2003 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

It will be cut down Tuesday morning and shipped by barge to New York. The tree was one of three in the running for the famed holiday tree.

Police kept watch over the tree at night beginning last week to safeguard it, and tree service workers wrapped it on Thursday in preparation for shipping.

The tree, which is on the Katkauskas family property on Tolland Turnpike, will be hauled to New London after it is cut down and loaded on a barge for New York Tuesday afternoon.

The Rockefeller Center tree traditionally is a Norway spruce decorated with at least 26,000 lights. This year it is scheduled to be lit at 8:50 p.m. on Dec. 3 in a television show broadcast nationwide. It will remain illuminated through Jan. 6.

[nutmeg]

Sorry about the excerpting, but it is required on FR to excerpt Hartford Courant articles.

[nutmeg]

Hey, this tree is from our neck of the woods! (OK, about 25 minutes away)

Some Tri-State FReepers may remember the "Support Our Troops" rally we participated in earlier this year at a VFW in Manchester, CT with local WDRC radio personality Brad Davis. Lots of patriotic folks in the Manchester area! :-)

nutmeg & zelig

[nutmeg]

ping!

Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.

[stanz]

Hey, that's great. The stupid ass Dem mayor where I live had all the wonderful old oaks in the parks on Boulevard East chopped down to allow for views of Manhattan. That's his "legacy". Now we have a huge expanse with an ugly fountain in the center which is not running during the winter. Nice tradeoff.

[Coleus]

What! No Picture?

[CGASMIA68]

Trees is gone..on a barge to Man-atten...
I watched this go on for about 2 weeks as I observe stuff....and for the past two weeks+- they were binding and wrapping this thing with a local cop'et in the drive each day..24-7...so homie hear goes up the drive on Monday and aks"whats going on wit dat tree" and copper babe sez what tree...homie knows a snow job and leaves...next day media is all around and tree is on a truck to a foriegn nation Man-atten.....

[Tabi Katz]

Lots of patriotic folks in the Manchester area! :-)

That's surprising, since it's uncomfortably close to UCONN, where I grew up as a University brat. I remember a high school classmate suggesting a willingness to commit suicide if Reagan was elected, which seemed to typify local sentiment. I guess Manchester is far enough away that sanity prevails :)

[nutmeg]

(My very belated answer to you...)

Yes, I think I remember you had mentioned you had attended or grew up near (?) UConn in Storrs. I don't know if you've been out that way in awhile... you may not recognize the campus today. It has grown considerably over the past 10 years or so.

[nutmeg]

For anyone interested... watch the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree tonight 8-9pm on NBC (about 30 minutes from now). The tree is from Tolland Turnpike in Manchester, CT!

Please Freepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent Connecticut ping list.

[nutmeg]

For anyone interested... watch the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree tonight 8-9pm ET on NBC (about 30 minutes from now).

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[nutmeg]

I happened to see your names on a similar thread and thought you might be interested... watch the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree tonight 8-9pm ET on NBC (about 25 minutes from now).

(This is not a permanent ping list)

[George from New England]

The jerks at the Hartford Courant have hopped on the registration bandwagon.

Good for them, I won't be viewing their pages anymore.

[MinuteGal]

Okay, all you hortic...ahem....tree experts out there, how old do you estimate this 79 ft. spruce to be?

(I know, I should cut the tree in half and count the rings, hah hah.)

But I'm really curious as to its estimated age.

Leni

[nutmeg]

Yuck... I heard "cast of the West Wing" and "America has been enduring some difficult times lately..." from Ann Currie (?) and the 'ol blood pressure started going up. Hope they all just SHUT UP AND SING! (As Laura Ingraham would say)

Hey... hope we'll be seeing you on 12/28 in NYC for the Tri-State holiday party! :-)

[nutmeg]

I think the tree was planted 50 years ago, if I remember the local coverage correctly.

[Puppage]

watch the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

If you can stomach the cast of The Left Wing who, along with Mayor Bloomberg, will be doing the "honors".

[nutmeg]

Yech, I forgot BloomingIdiot will be there also, ruining the occasion. Oh well... I normally don't promote NBC and *especially* will not promote West Wing. I guess I'm just bumping this thread because the tree is from my neck of the woods. :-)

[Puppage]

I know Nutmeg. I knew where you were coming from.

[Spruce]

The resinous exudation of the Norway spruce, melted and strained, furnishes "Burgundy Pitch", or "European Frankincense".

It acts as a counter-irritant, And makes a great Vap-O-Rub!

A truly noble tree!


Merry Christmas!