Boston's Official Christmas Tree Cut Down In Nova Scotia

BOSTON, MA —The Christmas tree that will be on display on Boston Common this holiday season —considered Boston's official Christmas tree — was cut down Wednesday in Nova Scotia, according to WCVB.

The 60-year-old, 48-foot white spruce tree was cut down during a small ceremony in Orangedale on Cape Breton in Nova Scotia.

According to WCVB, the annual gift from Nova Scotia to Boston is scheduled to be shipped from Halifax via container vessel on Nov. 15. It will arrive by police escort at Boston Common on Nov. 17. Boston's 80th Annual Official Tree Lighting ceremony takes place on Dec. 2.

This year's tree is being donated by L'Arce Cape Breton, a nonprofit that provides homes and work for people with disabilities.

This is the 50th year that Nova Scotia has given a tree to the people of Boston as thanks for relief efforts following the December 6, 1917 explosion of a munitions ship in Halifax Harbor. The disaster killed nearly 2,000 people and left hundreds severely injured and homeless.

Within 24 hours of the disaster, a train loaded with supplies and emergency personnel was making its way from Boston to Nova Scotia.

"We will never forget the kindness the people of Boston showed Nova Scotia following the tragedy of the Halifax Explosion," Tory Rushton, Nova Scotia's minister of natural resources and renewables, said in a statement.

The annual tree lighting celebration on Boston Common draws an estimated 25,000 people and has grown to include a festive stage show with nationally known talent. The city has not yet announced all the scheduled performers.

The event, which is sponsored by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, includes the lighting of Boston's official tree and trees on Boston Common and the Public Garden bridge, which will take place shortly before 8 p.m.

According to the city of Boston, the lighting event will feature Mayor Michelle Wu, who will be joined on stage by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman. The show will close with a pyrotechnic display by Atlas PyroVision.

Of course, that is hardly the only holiday celebration in Boston in the coming weeks. The city also has announced that on Nov 29, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department and the Friends of Copley Square will host the annual Copley Square Tree Lighting, which will take place from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

According to MassLive, the free event also will feature appearances by Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. There also will be musical performances by vocalist Ackeem Hill, the Boston Children's Chorus, the Boston Pops Esplanade Brass Ensemble and Berklee College of Music's own Esperanza Delgado.

Other Boston area holiday celebrations include:

• Trellis lighting at Christopher Columbus Park, 110 Atlantic Ave., 5 p.m. on Nov. 22
• Holiday ship lighting at Martin's Park, 64 Sleeper Street, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 27
• Lighting of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, 15 Commonwealth Ave., 8 p.m. on Dec. 2.

Details about these celebrations are available on the City of Boston website.