ROCKEFELLER CENTER — The holiday season kicked off on Friday morning — a month and a half before Christmas — with the installation of the famed Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
It took several hours and dozens of workers to lift the 78-foot tall Norway Spruce and install it into its base right in front of the Rockefeller Center.
The 80-year old tree, which weights approximately 10 tons and was donated by the Asendorf family of Ulster County, NY last year, has been in their family for four generations, Albert Asendorf said on Friday morning as he watched the placing of the tree.
Asendorf moved to his current house in Gardiner, NY when he was four years old and the tree was "just 6-feet tall at that time," he said.
"My father loved the tree and trimmed it so it would look straight," Asendorf, now 62, said.
But after more than 50 years, the tree, which was in the front yard, became "overwhelming and harder to take care of because of his height," he added.
Asendorf and his longtime partner, Nancy Puchalski, briefly thought about knocking it down before applying to donate it to the Rockefeller Center, they said.
"We submitted it online as more of a joke than anything but Rockefeller Center's head gardener showed up at our door a few months after," said Asendorf, a retired maintenance agent from SUNY New Paltz.
Starting last May, gardeners in charge of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree brought about a thousand gallons of water and some fertilizers every Wednesday to make sure the tree would be in great shape for this year's holiday season, Asendorf said.
"It is very exciting even it we're a little sad to see it go," said Puchalski as she watched workers cut the ropes that were put on many of the tree's branches to make the 47-foot wide spruce smaller for its transportation.
"This tree has survived many storms, the same way our family has been through hard times but every time, just like our family, the tree came back strong," Puchalski said, "It's great that the tree is here and that everybody from all around the world is going to see it," she added.
Many spectators that had gathered to watch the tree be installed said they were impressed by the size of spruce and excited to be able to watch it being set up.
"This is a very special moment and sharing it with my daughter... it's definitely the highlight of our weekend and we will remember it for a very long time," said 68-year-old Angela Kiehling, who was visiting from Charleston, South Carolina with her 35-year old daughter.
"It's magnificent and it smells fantastic. We're so happy we made it," said Kiehling's daughter, Maria Brees.
"This is very exciting because it means it's the start of Christmas," said tourist Hannah Harisson from Manchester who watched the whole installation process.
The lighting of the tree will take place on December 2 at 7 p.m., organizers said.