Timber! Chicago Harvests Christmas Tree
Budget forces city to skimp on decor
By BJ LUTZ
Updated 6:15 PM CST, Thu, Nov 5, 2009
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The single Christmas Tree that will adorn Chicago's Daley Plaza was cut down Thursday morning.
The 52-year-old, 10,000 pound, 56-foot blue spruce was donated to the city by the Weivoda family of Palos Heights. They were afraid the tree was getting too big and could fall on their house during a storm.
"I knew they (the city) always put a big tree up on top of all the other trees, but I had no idea it would be the tree," Harlan Weivoda told the Chicago Tribune.
Last year, the city put up a 90-foot-high tree that was actually made up of 113 smaller trees. This will be the first time since 1955 the city has skimped on its arboreal accoutrements. The city's budget is to blame.
City officials say their confident the display will "still be as beautiful."
First Published: Nov 5, 2009 5:49 PM CST
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