By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Gerry and Carol Davies decorated the broad blue spruce in front of their home on the city’s east side for Christmas for years.
Then, the tree simply got too massive.
“We couldn’t even get a string around it,” Carol Davies said. “We just couldn’t do it anymore.”
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Now, for the first time in approximately 15 years, the tree will glow with lights and ornaments again.
The Davies, who are retired educators from Boylan Catholic High School, have donated their sprawling spruce to Stroll on State to serve as the city’s official Christmas tree. It will be decorated by a team of volunteers this weekend and lit during a ceremony at 6 p.m. Nov. 26 at Main and Elm streets next to the BMO Center in downtown.
“That’s what we can’t wait to see, is how beautiful it will look with all the lights on it,” Gerry Davies said.
The tree was only about 10-feet tall when the Davies moved into their home 21 years ago. Before it was harvested Tuesday morning, it stood roughly 40-feet tall and was 18-feet wide around the base.
It then received a police escort to its resting place in downtown, where it will serve as a picturesque backdrop for photos as thousands of people attend Stroll on State. The tree was so large that it took up two lanes of traffic on its route.
“We only got 150 cars mad at us on the way over,” joked John Richards, the president of Tree Care Enterprises, which volunteers its time along with Howe Freightways, Creative Crane and Stenstrom to install the tree.
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About $2.5 million worth of equipment is used to get the tree in place, Richards said.
Snow flurries spun around the volunteer crews as they setup the tree, delivering a feeling that the holidays were arriving at the same time as the tree.
“We cannot remember a time that it has ever snowed on this day,” said Kristen Paul, the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau’s director of destination development. “The tree-harvest day is always super exciting for all of us at the convention and visitors bureau and all of our volunteers because it really makes it official.”
Richards said his team has worked through rain, high winds and freezing cold temperatures to install the official tree over the past 10 years. This is the first time it’s snowed.
“Last week I was golfing in 70 degrees, and here we are, all of a sudden, it’s a perfect day to get Christmas kicked off,” he said. “We couldn’t get a better day than snow.”
The tree and the rest of downtown will be decorated on Friday and Saturday. Many volunteers are needed, you can sign up to help out on the Stroll on State website.
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The annual event, which takes over downtown streets with holiday music, food, shopping and other live entertainment, runs from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26.
The Davies will be there when their tree is lit in front of thousands of people at a special Stroll ceremony.
It’s a bittersweet time for the couple, who knew they had to give up the tree that had outgrown their property.
“We’re sad to see it go, but at least we feel happy that it’s going to a good home,” Gerry Davies said.
After Stroll, the tree will be chipped and the mulch will be donated for residents to use in their yards.
But before that, its beauty will be shared with the whole city.
“It’s a beautiful tree. It’s majestic,” Carol Davies said. “We’re glad to be able to donate it to Stroll on State and share our tree with everybody in the city of Rockford.”
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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.