The Lighting of the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center
This Wednesday, the 28th of November, will mark the 79th time that the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center has been lit. This New York tradition, which has gained national attention, is for some the official start of the holiday season. We at ADAM Personnel have always loved this holiday ritual, and as a staffing agency in New York, look forward to it every year.
The Rockefeller Christmas Tree actually comes from very modest beginnings. The first trees were put up by construction workers while the center was being built and were much more conservative in size (about 20 ft. tall). They were very simply decorated, with cranberry strings and tin cans.
The modern tree is of course something else entirely. This year the tree will be decked with 30,000 LED lights, which are all energy efficient. It is a Norway spruce and has actually come from a local donor from New Jersey by the name of Joseph Balku. The fact that the tree was picked locally makes the tree an especially potent symbol, as it was survived the worst of Hurricane Sandy and has still came out alright. The star that will adorn this year’s tree was made by famed crystal company Swarovski, which has been making the star every year since 2004. It took nine artisans to craft this 550 Ib. behemoth of a star and hundreds of hours of testing in order to ensure that it would survive a New York winter.
If you are looking to come down and see the lighting of the tree, make sure to be at Rockefeller Center (between 5th and 6th Avenue and West 48th and West 51st Streets) at 7PM. If you can’t make it down, the lighting will be televised, whether live or as a recording, between 7PM and 9PM.
Image By: caruba