LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. —
The Christmas spirit has come early this year in Downtown London with the planting of a live Norway Spruce at the London-Laurel County Farmers Market on Wednesday.
“Our movement toward a mindset of recycle and reuse, coupled with having to cut a well-established tree each year, led us to the idea of planting, or in this case replanting, a tree that we could use each year,” London Mayor Troy Rudder said.
The spruce, standing at approximately 35-feet tall, was donated by Johnny Mize, an employee of the City of London. Mize and his wife, Gerrie, planted the tree in 1998. His magnificent spruce had outgrown the space in which it was planted and the family was ready to donate it for a good cause. When Mize heard the city was searching for a permanent Christmas tree, he knew he had the perfect specimen, he said.
Not only is planting a Christmas tree environmentally friendly, the permanent planting of a tree is a sound financial decision. The labor costs of a cutting, securing and removing a temporary tree each year costs an estimated $2,000 each year. Transplanting the sizeable Norway Spruce as a permanent downtown fixture was estimated around the same amount. Vittitoe Tree Service of Bardstown, Ky., was contracted to perform the transplant using their Big John Tree spade, the largest in Kentucky.
Though there are risks with transplanting large trees, it is a risk the City of London and London Downtown are pleased to make.
“We hope the tree serves as a beautiful specimen for the community to enjoy year round,” said Chris Robinson, executive director of London Downtown. “We will do our best to keep it as green and stately as it was in Johnny’s yard.”
“The City Christmas Tree will be shaped, nurtured and used as the official tree for years to come,” Rudder added.
mmccrarey@sentinel-echo.com
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City of London Public Works Director Steve Edge peered at the tall Norway Spruce as it became a new resident of London Downtown on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Magen McCrarey
September 10, 2012
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