Manchester's Holiday Tree Tradition Being Revived For 2023

MANCHESTER, CT — A holiday tradition is back in Manchester.

The Manchester Downtown Christmas tree lighting tradition, last staged in 2019, is being revived this year through what some town officials are calling "the true spirit of community and the holiday season."

It came about from local resident Tom Topping, who began floating the idea of bringing the tradition back on a community Facebook page he manages. The tree was hit by lightning in the late 1990s and was staged with a half-tree with a Charlie Brown theme for years. The ceremony fizzled out with the demise of the tree.

In came Center Congregational Church, which offered a home for a new tree and a renewed tradition.

Pastor Joyce Crutchfield of Center Congregational Church said it was an easy decision.

"When we heard there was a movement to plant a new tree, we were delighted to step up," Crutchfield said. "We love the community and being a part of Downtown."

Once a home for a new tree was established, there was one big thing left to do — find the tree itself. Once Topping started talking about it on Facebook, the Manchester Police Department joined in on the tree-finding mission. MPD sergeants Dan Doyon and Christina Krawec began brainstorming about places that might have large, Christmas-worthy evergreens available for little-to-no cost.

After realizing the scope of what would be required to transplant such a large tree, Krawec reached out to Newcity Builders for help with the necessary machinery. Owners of the local construction company specializing in crumbling foundation replacements had an idea.

"We have a lot of connections in the landscaping world," Newcity Co-Owner Daryl Parker said. "We thought to ourselves, 'Wow, this would be a great opportunity to bring some joy to one of the communities affected by the crumbling foundation crisis."

Parker said he reached out to some contacts and, after an extensive search that led out of state, the new holiday tree was found at a nursery in Rhode Island. He purchased it as a "gift to the Manchester community."

The tree is a 15-foot Kosteri Colorado Blue Spruce, and it will make its way to Center Congregational Church on Saturday. Parker and the Newcity Builders team will then plant the tree on the front lawn of Center Congregational Church.

The tree, which has a 60 inch root ball and weighs well over 3,000 pounds, will be delivered by Newcity Builders and escorted up Main Street between 10:30 and 11 a.m. by the Manchester Police Department, Manchester Fire Department, Santa, and Chuckles the state groundhog from the Lutz Children's Museum.

Once the tree is planted, D. DuBaldo Electric Co., LLC will be stringing the lights on the tree in preparation for its official lighting event on the evening of Dec. 9.

The Downtown Manchester Special Services District is inviting community members and businesses along Downtown Main Street to cheer as the tree goes by.

"We hope people will come out for breakfast and maybe pick up a coffee or hot chocolate or stay downtown for lunch and participate in the beginning of what we hope will be a fresh take on what was a long standing tradition in town," Topping said. "I imagine a lot of kids would love to catch an early glimpse of the big man himself, too."