WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has a strong New England accent, and locals couldn’t be more excited.
The Norway spruce that will travel to New York City comes from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The route was scheduled to be shortened Thursday and travel about 140 miles (225 kilometers) south, arriving in downtown Manhattan on Nov. 9.
The tree will be illuminated during a live TV broadcast on December 4, with 50,000 multi-colored lights with a Swarovski star on them, and will remain on display until mid-January.
Local residents this week flocked to the tree, which was planted 67 years ago in honor of the homeowner’s nieces, and several workers could be seen high up in the 11-ton tree, tying up its branches for a journey south.
It is the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree to come from Massachusetts since 1959.
“There are a lot of people coming to town who are interested in this. So people are at the house taking pictures and are excited about it,” said Bernie Fallon, a resident of West Stockbridge, a town of 1,400 in western Massachusetts. “The talk in town, the local gossip and conversations are quite high.”
Peter Giles Thorne, another resident, called it a ‘beautiful story’.
“A tree from your hometown makes something right,” he said, chuckling.
Among those who visited the Christmas tree were Michael and Tania Hardinger, tourists from Denmark. They flew to New York and drove to Massachusetts, a trip that took longer than expected after Michael Hardinger went the wrong way.
“We call it the scenic route. So it took six hours instead of 2.5 hours,” says Michael Hardinger. “But we found it and we found the tree. And we are very happy.”
Hardinger said the trip was inspired by their love of Christmas, with the family having two and sometimes three Christmas trees in their Copenhagen home. Both musicians return to Denmark to perform a few concerts before arriving back in New York to do some Christmas shopping and visit the tree again, this time at Rockefeller Center.
“We love Christmas and the Rockefeller tree is something we have to see every year,” Hardinger said. “It’s so beautiful and fantastic. So it’s exciting and a lot of fun to see him here alive before he’s killed.”