Nova Scotia’s 'Tree for Boston' is coming from Christmas Island this year
A white spruce from the aptly-named community of Christmas Island, N.S., will be the province’s 51st “Tree for Boston.”
The nearly 14-metre Christmas tree is the latest iteration of a long-standing “thank you” to the city for its help following the Halifax Explosion in 1917.
Soon after the blast, which killed nearly 2,000 people and left thousands more injured and homeless, officials in Boston, Mass., sent medical aid, relief supplies, and personnel to Halifax.
“The Tree for Boston continues to be a sign of our deep appreciation for the aid Boston provided,” said Tory Rushton, minister of natural resources and renewables, in a news release.
In 1971, the first “Tree for Boston” was cut in Lunenburg County.
This is the second year in a row that the tree is coming from Cape Breton.
“It is only fitting that the Tree for Boston this year is coming from Cape Breton’s own Christmas Island,” said Keith Bain, speaker of the House of Assembly, in the release.
Landowner Roddy Townsend along with his children, Angela, Carmen and Andrew, are donating the tree.
“We feel this is going to bring a lot of happiness to the surrounding communities. The tree is such a special gesture of gratitude, hope and continuing friendship,” the Townsend family said in the release.
A public tree-cutting ceremony is set for Nov. 16 on the Townsend family’s land at 8008 Grand Narrows Highway.
The province says Carmen Townsend, an award-winning musician, will perform a song she’s written about the tradition, and a local Mi’Kmaw elder will hold a smudging ceremony before the tree is cut.
The white spruce will then head to Halifax for a special sendoff. The tree is set to leave Halifax on Nov. 21 and is expected to reach its final destination for a tree-lighting ceremony on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Boston Common.
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