BrightView Delivers Holiday Cheer in Chicago
Chicago teams involved with selecting, delivering annual Christmas Tree
Some of the most iconic holiday decorations are the beautiful and usually very tall Christmas trees adorning cityscapes, such as at Rockefeller Center in New York City, the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., and the Coeur D’Alene Resort tree in Idaho.
In Chicago, the Christmas tree is displayed every year in Millennium Park from mid-November through the first week of the New Year. And, guess what? BrightView has a hand in selecting the winning tree.
“People from all over the suburbs typically submit pictures of their trees for the city of Chicago to send to us to drive out and evaluate them,” said Joseph Baker, BrightView Account Manager.
For this year, the city’s 109th tree, there were roughly 90 submissions. BrightView’s Chicago Northwest and Chicago Tree teams review the entries to see if the tree is a good candidate, and then send the city back their top five recommendations.
“Some of the main things we look for are the size of the tree – preferably more than 50-feet tall – the fullness of the tree, if it’s symmetrical, and the location to see if it would be easy for our crews to get in with a crane and cut it down,” Baker said. “We have weekly meetings with the city regarding the trees, and then once we submit our comments and recommendations, the city makes the final decision.”
Once the winner has been chosen, BrightView’s Development team orchestrates taking the tree down and delivering it to its destination.
“Depending on the height of the tree, the appropriate size of the flatbed truck is selected and a crane is used to remove the tree,” Baker said. “Before we cut it, the tree must first be properly tied up, which takes days.”
The tree is then transported to Millennium Park where the BrightView team hoists it into place so it can then be decorated.
This year, the winning tree came from a family in Morton Grove, Ill., and is a 55-foot Colorado Blue Spruce.
Although BrightView has been involved in the city’s official Christmas tree process for 14 years, it has assisted with other trees in the city for roughly 40 years through the Salvation Army, the Kohn Hancock Center, the old Sun Times building, and more.
Read more about the tree here.
For more information and/or permission to use BrightView images and assets, please send all media inquiries to [email protected]
Expertise from Root to Canopy
Need an Arborist consultation? Work with an experienced, safety-conscious local crew, certified arborists, and all the specialty equipment and techniques needed to keep your trees thriving.