A nearly 50-foot Norway spruce tree from the yard of Amanda Clark is moved to a flatbed truck on Monday in Campton Hills. The tree will head to Millennium Park where it will be decorated and serve as the 113th city of Chicago Christmas tree. The annual Tree Lighting Ceremony is on Nov. 20 and will tree will be on display through early January. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Cranes in Campton Hills hoisted a nearly 50-foot Norway spruce Monday morning bound for Millennium Park, where it will take the stage as Chicago’s 113th official Christmas tree.
Mandy Clark and her family donated the tree, which is expected to arrive in Chicago on Wednesday, ahead of the city’s annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on Nov. 20, officials said. It will be decorated before the ceremony and remain on display through early January, when it will be taken down and turned into wood chips for city parks.
Juan Alvarado cuts down a nearly 50-foot Norway spruce tree from the yard of Amanda Clark to a flatbed truck on Monday in Campton Hills. The tree will head to Millennium Park where it will be decorated and serve as the 113th city of Chicago Christmas tree. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
The ceremony marks the “official start of the Chicago holiday season,” according to the city, and has become a “cherished” holiday tradition.
Last year, officials selected a 68-foot Norway spruce from Glenview weighing roughly 12,000 pounds. It was the largest ever displayed by the city, Jim Williams, who oversees transportation for the ceremony, told the Tribune.
But it wasn’t the tallest, he said. That distinction belongs to a 71-foot white fir.
A nearly 50-foot Norway spruce tree from the yard of Amanda Clark is lowered onto a flatbed truck on Monday in Campton Hills. The tree will head to Millennium Park where it will be decorated and serve as the 113th city of Chicago Christmas tree. The annual Tree Lighting Ceremony is on Nov. 20 and will tree will be on display through early January. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Chicago has selected a single official Christmas tree through contests or nominations since 2009, though the tradition dates back more than a century. The city’s first official tree, a 35-foot Douglas spruce, was erected atop 40-foot poles in Grant Park and illuminated with 600 multicolored lights in 1913.
The free ceremony in Millennium Park will feature a fireworks display, according to the city’s website. The event will be livestreamed for those who can’t attend in person.
lhempel-edgers@chicagotribune.com
Amanda Clark, right, watches as her nearly 50-foot Norway spruce tree is hoisted across her yard to a flatbed truck on Monday in Campton Hills. The tree will head to Millennium Park where it will be decorated and serve as the 113th city of Chicago Christmas tree. Clark said the tree was planted in 2004. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
A nearly 50-foot Norway spruce tree from the yard of Amanda Clark is moved to a flatbed truck on Monday in Campton Hills. The tree will head to Millennium Park where it will be decorated and serve as the 113th city of Chicago Christmas tree. The annual Tree Lighting Ceremony is on Nov. 20 and will tree will be on display through early January. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Arborist Carlos Montero fastens a line onto a hoist used to move a nearly 50-foot Norway spruce tree from the yard of Amanda Clark to a flatbed truck on Monday in Campton Hills. The tree will head to Millennium Park where it will be decorated and serve as the 113th city of Chicago Christmas tree. The annual Tree Lighting Ceremony is on Nov. 20 and will tree will be on display through early January. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)