Green Giant: 74-foot Rockefeller Christmas tree is coming from Massachusetts this year

The giant Norway spruce, which will become this year’s Rockefeller Christmas tree, is heading to New York from its tiny Massachusetts hometown.

WEST STOCKBRIDGE, MA. The giant Norway spruce, which will become this year’s Rockefeller Christmas tree, was en route to New York on Thursday from its tiny hometown in Massachusetts.

The 74-foot (23-meter) tall conifer was cut down Thursday morning in West Stockbridge and lifted by crane onto a flatbed truck. It will travel 140 miles (225 kilometers) to Rockefeller Center, where it will be installed on Saturday. The tree, decorated with 50,000 colorful lights and a crown of Swarovski stars, will be on display until mid-January.

The Tall Spruce, Rockefeller Center’s first Christmas tree imported from Massachusetts since 1959, has attracted a lot of attention in West Stockbridge. In recent days, locals and tourists have flocked to see the 11-ton (10-meter) tree as workers high in the canopy prepare it for its trip to New York.

Residents and visitors, some dressed as Santa Claus, watched from behind a barrier as workers felled the tree Thursday morning. While observers took photographs and videotaped the event, the local family who donated the tree was interviewed by the media.