A New Tree Comes To Rockefeller Center

Have you ever wondered where the Christmas tree displayed in Rockefeller Center each winter comes from? Generally through the years the trees have come from families who have watched their tree grow for several generations.

In 1986 the tree came from the home of Mary and Vinnie Frohling in Rockland County. The Norwegian spruce was planted by Mr. Frohling’s father in the 1930s and reached 68 feet tall at the time it was cut. Donating the tree is not a simple thing for many of the families as Mrs. Frohling explained:

“If it was just another tree, then it was just another tree” said Mrs. Frohling, 72. “But it’s the emotional thing of his father having planted the tree. When I first heard that chain saw start up, I said, ‘Oh, my God, what did we do?’ ”

This year’s tree is a 74-foot Norway spruce. It hails from the backyard of a New York City firefighter in Mahopac, Putnam County. The lighting will take place on Tuesday evening and about 2.5 million people are expected to come to see the tree which will be strewn with 5 miles of wiring and 15,000 lights.