Dateline: October 18, 2008, Colchester, CT
After months of soliciting and reviewing ideas about what to do with this year's tree lighting on the Town Green, the Parks & Recreation Commission is excited about the plan that they finally approved at their October meeting. A la Rockefeller Center, the town will be cutting and installing a live tree on the Green this winter, and the commission will be forming a Tree Lighting Subcommittee that will be tasked with decorating the selected tree.
As everyone who has passed by the Green in recent winters can see, the large tree that has traditionally been lit has become a challenge to maintain. Rather than spend immense amounts of money on new lights and installation for this tree, a donated twenty to thirty foot tree put up for the season will be much more manageable.
The tree will be sought from local farms, however, the commission is open to donations from private owners who may wish to submit their own tree for consideration. Tree farms are frequently eager to get rid of trees that have grown this large, as they crowd out the newer crop.
Tree decoration will take place following Thanksgiving. Community members interested in helping to decorate the tree can submit their names to the Parks & Recreation Commission, through the Parks & Recreation Office, no later than October 29. The commission will review the applicants and form the committee at their November 3 meeting.
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