By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app
ROCKFORD — A colossal blue spruce that will serve as the city’s official Christmas tree arrived in downtown on Tuesday as part of the lead up to Rockford’s biggest holiday festival.
A police escort led the tree from a rental property on Sandra Lane, where it was harvested, to Main and Elm streets in downtown. The 45- to 50-foot tall tree often filled two lanes of traffic en route to its stand next to the BMO Center.
“This is probably our biggest and our bluest blue spruce that we’ve ever had,” said Kristen Paul, executive vice president of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, which coordinates the tree’s arrival as part of Stroll on State. “We were so excited when this application came in. When we saw the picture we were jumping up and down at our desk because it is exactly what we hoped to find for a tree.”
The tree will be lit at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25 as part of Stroll on State, the one-day holiday festival that draws tens of thousands of people to downtown.
“We work all year on Stroll, but really focus with our volunteers starting in September,” Paul said. “The day that the tree arrives and seeing the harvest and seeing it come downtown is when it all feels real.”
The tree will eventually serve as a picturesque backdrop for photos and as a gathering space for thousands of people who celebrate the tree’s lighting during Stroll on State.
Many blue spruce in the region suffer from Rhizosphaera needle cast, a fungal disease that causes needles to die and fall off. That disease has affected past city Christmas trees, but this year’s spruce is healthy and full, said John Richards, the president of Tree Care Enterprises, which volunteers its time along with Howe Freightways, Creative Crane and Stenstrom to harvest, haul and in stall the tree.
“This is maybe the healthiest one,” Richards said. “This one is in particularly nice, full shape.”
Tree Care Enterprises workers had to trim about 5 inches off the 20-inch diameter trunk of the tree in order to wedge it into the stand that holds it. Volunteers will decorate it in the coming days to prepare it for Stroll, which is in its 11th year.
The tree was one of three large blue spruces growing too close to an apartment building on Sandra Lane. The Rockford Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce helped make the connection between the visitors bureau and the tree donors. The other two trees on the property may also have a future as the city’s official Christmas tree.
“It looks like if all things are a go we may have our trees for the next two years beyond that as well,” Paul said.
Know before you go | Stroll on State
When: 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 25
Where: Downtown Rockford
Dasher Dash: Noon on Saturday, Nov. 25 starting at Beattie Park,
For all events and attractions: Go HERE
To volunteer: Go HERE
More info: gorockford.com/stroll-on-state
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas