BLOOMSBURG, Pa. (AP) – An 85-foot Norway spruce that belonged to a central Pennsylvania family of “Christmas elves” will serve as Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree this year.
Workers cut down the 13-ton tree and a crane hoisted it onto a trailer Wednesday morning for the 155-mile journey to midtown Manhattan. It’ll be illuminated for the first time on Dec. 3 in a ceremony that’s been held since 1933.
The tree was donated by Dan Sigafoos, 38, and Rachel Drosdick-Sigafoos, 29, who live in a century-old farmhouse about three hours west of New York City. They begin their holiday season early by starting to play Christmas music in August or September.
“I am a big Christmas elf. My whole family are Christmas elves,” said Drosdick-Sigafoos, a diving coach at Susquehanna University who also works part-time at a hospital. “So for me, this is just literally beyond my wildest dreams.”
Erik Pauze, the head gardener at Rockefeller Center, was driving on Interstate 80 several years ago when he spied the tree from the highway.