Christmas tree’s a star-scraper

Susan McCormack

Move over Rockefeller Center. Fashion Island is gearing up for the

nation’s tallest Christmas tree to arrive in Newport Beach Tuesday

morning.

A 110-foot white fir will make its entrance at the shopping center’s

Bloomingdale’s courtyard at about 6 a.m., when a 140-foot flatbed truck

arrives from a trip originating at Mt. Shasta, said Fashion Island

spokeswoman Nina Robinson, who added that the famous tree in Rockefeller

Center is expected to be only 90 feet tall and the National Tree in

Washington, D.C., a mere 78.

The Christmas tree hoisting and decorating are an annual event at Fashion

Island, said Robinson. On Nov. 19 at 6 p.m., the center will host another

tradition: the tree lighting ceremony. This year, students at the Orange

County High School of the Arts will perform, Santa Claus will pose for

photos and about 15,000 white lights and ornaments will luminate the

tree. An annual menorah-lighting ceremony will take place Dec. 5 at 4

p.m.

Lugging a 17,000 pound tree from near the top of the state to Newport

Beach and then actually hoisting it upright is a complicated job,

Robinson said.

The truck transporting the white fir finds its destination at

Bloomindale’s, where it must position the tree for hoisting by making a

three-point turn and backing into place, said Robinson. The tree is

secured with rope to a large crane and then lifted, with the top of the

tree rising as the trunk is lowered into a metal vault 10 feet in the

ground.

“The tree actually never touches the ground,” Robinson said. “That is

part of the environmentally friendly aspects of the tree ceremony.”

Robinson said Fashion Island is environmentally sensitive during the

whole process of bringing the tree to the center. The center works with

Victor’s Strictly Custom Christmas Trees in Laguna Niguel and the USDA

Forestry Service to find the trees in specially designated areas of the

forest. Also, about 10 trees are replanted for each tree the center

takes, and after the Christmas tree has seen through the holidays,

Robinson said it is recycled into mulch.

By the numbers:

*110 foot white fir tree

*15,000 white lights and ornaments

*17,000 pounds

*10-man crew to decorate it over two weeks

*20 or more people to supervisor, security and help hoist the tree

*5 hours to install and hoist the tree