Rockefeller Christmas Tree Arrives

Photographs by Mel Evans/AP; at right, Bill Varanyak holds a photograph of his mother Mary

Rockefeller Center got its 2008 Christmas tree, as a 72-foot Norway spruce from Hamilton, NJ arrived this morning. You can see it come in--with Al Roker--in this video:

The tree has a touching history: The Star-Ledger reports that it was first Mary and Joseph Varanyak's Christmas tree in 1931; the couple then planted the live tree (it was in a pot) outside their home. Their son Bob Varanyak said his mother, who passed away a few years ago, had dreamed of this honor, "She always said this tree will be in Rockefeller Center. If it was going to be cut down, it was going to be because it was going to Rockefeller Center." His twin brother Bill added, "She would go out and put manure around it. She said it would one day be in New York, and later on when she got older, I took care of it. We were always worried, as it grew taller and taller, it would get knocked down in a storm or something."

The Today show also has a cute video of Bob and Bill Varanyak--it's after the jump. And the tree will be lit on Wednesday, December 3--with performances by Beyonce, Tony Bennett, the Jonas Brothers, Harry Connick Jr., David Cook and Rosie O'Donnell--and will be on display through January 9, 2009.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts & Entertainment on November 14, 2008 10:30 AM

Comments [rss]

Barbj8

All of these little traditions at Christmas seem to depress an awful lot of people. When does the happy stuff begin?

kbair

I live in Hamilton and have always known the tree. I must say that it is an honor to see a one of our trees make it to Rockefeller center. I'm sure that many that live here would agree. It will be sad not to see it when I drive by anymore, but you can't say that's a bad way to go out... In the middle of Rockefeller center covered with lights, after the tree lighting ceremony, with so many people coming to see it.

NannyState

They kill a beautiful tree every year just so Matt Lauer doesn't look ridiculous in a reindeer sweater? How festive.

HUGO_MEGO

#14 Future Taliban I would rather see your tubby bloated corpse floating down the east river nude. Now THAT would make a happy Kawanza!

Future Taliban

I'd rather see GW Bush's stinking dead carcass dressed-up in tinfoil & electric bulbs and erected at Rockefeller Plaza instead.

Now THAT would constitue a Merry Christmas!

cobalt420

Its good to see i'm not the only one who dislikes this tradition. I'd rather see the tree alive. I'm all for planting/transplanting one there.. or perhaps in central park.

Not going to happen though.

WorksInDUMBO

Great, now the bluebird is going to be dead too. Like their mother. and the tree.

Christmas at Rockefeller Center = DEATH

starrygordon

Besides, it is necessary to worship Wotan once a year. Or else.

Billiamsburg

and now its dead

TKaisen

Yeah, but there's one upside--the tree is so old (and heavy) and the owners were worried whether it would survive the storms.

Hm... good point, Jen. Didn't think of it that way. Better they take it from someplace where they were going to cut it down anyway then pull it out of the forest.

dbc

Also, the brothers claim that a bluebird that visited the tree was their mother guarding it:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/around_town/the_scene/Rockefeller-Center-Christmas-Tree.html

WorksInDUMBO

I must admit, I have to agree with #1. The tree always makes me a bit sad.

jackdonaghy

If anything, the Rockefeller Center tradition give people an appreciation of the beauty of trees.

Suburban development (i.e. tracks of cookie cutter homes) that destroyed acres of trees is the evil that needs attention.

joeb

Could they not just plant a tree in Rockafeller Center? Maybe there's no space below the plaza for roots, but man. This always depresses me each Christmas. Let's find the biggest, most majestic tree in all of the northeast, cut it down, and stare at it for a few weeks.

Colochita

A tree like that in a suburban backyard would have had to be cut down eventually anyway... better this than the chipper.

I do think it's a shame to cut these trees from the actual forest.

Papercutninja

There will always be 80 year old trees. They're trees! I'm not all about clear cutting old-growth in Vermont, but a tree every once in a while to brighten up Manhattan isn't a bad thing.

Jen Chung

Yeah, but there's one upside--the tree is so old (and heavy) and the owners were worried whether it would survive the storms.

TKaisen

On a scale of 1-10, how tree-huggerish is it to think that cutting down an 80 year old tree to put on display for four weeks is kind of sad? it's got to be at least an 8, right?