BOSTON TREE: Thank You Boston, Love Nova Scotia

By Geoffrey Agombar

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

All Nova Scotians are familiar with the legend of Boston's speedy and heroic support when just week's before Christmas 1917 two ships collided in Halifax Harbour leaving 2000 dead, thousands injured, and flattening surrounding buildings. Every year since 1971, Nova Scotia has sent a big thank you card to the city in the form of a 12-16 metre tall Christmas Tree.

This year's Boston Christmas Tree was found on Craig and Marina Cook's Clementsvale property, on Clementsvale Rd. just west of Power Lot Rd. The 14-metre white spruce was cut down Monday morning before a crowd of students, neighbours, dignitaries, and numerous television cameras. Author Bruce Nunn recited from his book “Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer and the Boston Christmas Tree Adventure” and Minister of the Natural Resources, David Morse, told the story of his first Boston Tree cutting ceremony as minister when he realized he had become Nova Scotia's a Minister of Christmas.

Department of Transportation employees seemed to relish their job felling the tree, destined to take centre stage in the Boston Commons. They could be seen photographing the crowd from atop the crane's basket, and laughing when a rusted, antique lumberjack saw was found in the brush at the tree's base. Counting 43 rings after the giant had fallen, they declared this to be the youngest Boston tree yet.

Don McLean will be driving the tree to Boston for the fifth straight year. “A few RCMP are driving down with us this year – that's new,” says McLean. “It's about 14 hours driving, but we can't drive at night. They need it for Friday at 11 a.m., so we'll be leaving first thing on Wednesday.”

The tree donation obviously holds symbolic value on Nova Scotia's end, but McLean can vouch for its value to Bostonians as well. “Oh, it's a big thing down there, too. We get a police escort into downtown, right into the Commons, which is good, because I might not find my way, otherwise. There's a big crowd of people waiting for the delivery. All the TV cameras are there. ABC, NBC, all of them. Same thing for the lighting ceremony [on December 4th] too.”

The Cooks declared their pride at having their tree selected. “We feel honoured to have a tree chosen from our property to be sent to Boson this year. It's a privilege for us to be able to say thank you for the help they provided during the Halifax Explosion.”

Typically, the Boston Christmas tree comes from a private landowner and is selected by the Department of Natural Resources. The chosen tree must be balsam fir, white spruce, or red spruce, 12 to 16 metres in height, healthy with good colour, thick branches, symmetrical and easy to access.

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