Aurora finds the perfect tree for Christmas

Gary and Joy Kellet's front yard is going to get an unusual amount of sunlight from now on.

The Aurora couple this week donated the 46-foot-tall and 47-year-old blue spruce that once shaded their lawn to serve as the Christmas tree at the citywide Holiday Magic celebration later this month.

The Aurora Street Department harvested the pine Tuesday morning from the home on the corner of the 1400 block of Crestwood Drive on the city's west side.

"My dad planted that tree in 1961 and when we bought the house from my parents a short time later, my kids would jump over it as they played in the yard," Kellet said Wednesday. "It gave us good shade for almost 50 years but it was getting so tall that I was afraid a good wind would take the top off and send it through my roof."

Kellet said the tree was aging and needed some pruning, but city spokeswoman Amy Roth said it is far from a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

"It really is a beautifully shaped tree and it's going to look awesome all lit up at North Island Center," she said.

For Kellet, a retired city street department employee of more than 35 years, participating in the city's 40-year tradition and donating his tree was "an honor."

"During my working days we all took on different responsibilities within the department each year," he said. "But I still managed to take down between 10 and 12 trees myself during that time so participating as a resident is special."

Kellet said he already has been to North Island Center to see the tree in its new location as it prepares to be decorated.

"It's a pretty tree," he said. "If I had my own boom truck all these years I would have put lights on it myself at home."

Roth said harvesting and transporting the 4,800-pound tree required a five-person crew and a 40-ton crane to hoist the tree onto the a trailer. Normally the harvesting would take place about two weeks later in the season but this was the only time the crane was available, she said.

As for the freshly tilled-dirt and grass seed that now covers where his tree once stood, Kellet says he'll let it grow for a few years.

"Eventually I'll plant two regular maple trees out front, but I'll probably wait a few years," he said.