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Spotlight on Boston Christmas tree given by Nova Scotia as thanks for help after Halifax Explosion

For 35 years, a tree from Nova Scotia has signaled the holidays here. Left untold: its trail of politics, folly and surprising love More PEOPLE of F 1972 BROS 19731 1974 1975 1076 1977 1979 1980 1981 19841 19841 1985 19865 1987 1988 1990 1991 1993 1996 1997 2003 2004 1998 1999 2001 2003 2004 CHRISTMAS By Keith O'Brien GLOBE CORRESPONDENT One year the Watsons donated it, another year it was the Slauenwhites. Tom Ernst recalls that Joseph Slauenwhite donated the first two trees, in fact. And then for awhile, Ernst says, things got "political." A tree, as it turns out, can't be just a OH! tree. Not in this case, anyway. Not a • chance. The so-called Boston Tree - the towering spruce that Nova Scotia donates to Boston every Christmas for the city's annual tree-lighting festivities - is far more complicated than most of its wooded brethren. People have cried over it, argued about it, even penned song lyrics in its honor. In short, what's often taken for granted here is feted, even treasured, there. All this for this tree, chopped down. A tree that will sparkle, then die. All this riding on the shoulders of one 2005 2006 person, who, every fall since 1971, must find the appropriate tree somewhere in Nova Scotia. It's not as easy as people think, says Peter Romkey, who like Ernst, once held the job of Christmas tree extension specialist in Nova Scotia. The tree can be elusive, the demands excessive, and the job requires remembering the locations of the best specimens in the province and persuading the people who own them to give them up for a pittance. "We've had people say, 'No thanks,' " recalls Romkey. But most will gladly watch their towering trees fall to be part of this 35-year tradition with an emotional back story dating to the days of World War I. The About the Boston Christmas Tree Every year, many trees aspire to the title but few measure up. In addition to being from Nova Scotia, which sends it as thanks for Boston's aid after a 1917 disaster, the tree must be: Balsam fir, white spruce, or red spruce Forty-five to fifty feet in height Healthy with good color Medium to heavy density Uniform and symmetrical Easy to access and cut down SOURCE: Department of Natural Resources, Province of Nova Scotia 1990 1995 TREE problem is, most trees just won't do the job. "Every year there'd be all these Boston Tree sightings," recalls Romkey, who held the job in the 1990s and would travel far and wide in Nova Scotia to see trees that people would report to him. "But the vast majority of them were awful trees. People wouldn't realize how big it had to be." Most Bostonians should know the story behind the annual Christmas tree by now. It dates back to 1917, when a French ship loaded with munitions collided with another freighter in Halifax harbor. A fire broke out on board, igniting the explosives minutes later, and causing what was then the largest manmade explosion in world history. The blast was felt 250 miles away. More than 1,600 people died in the first, frantic moments, hundreds more later. Children were blinded by flying glass and, in an instant, entire neigh- CHRISTMAS TREE, Page 7
Article from 26 Nov 2006The Boston Globe(Boston, MA)
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