Rockefeller Center is about to get a lot brighter. On Wednesday evening, the 76th Christmas tree-lighting ceremony will be held in midtown. The eight-ton 72-foot Norway spruce will be illuminated at 8:58 p.m. in the center’s plaza near the skating rink and the gilded statue depicting Prometheus bringing fire to mankind. The tree, which is 40 feet round, has been decorated with 30,000 energy-efficient LED lights on 5 miles of wire, topped with a massive crystal star. It was donated by the Varanyak family in Hamilton Twp., N.J. Beyonce, Tony Bennett, Harry Connick, Jr., and Jamie Foxx are among the entertainers scheduled to perform. While the first official lighting was in 1933, the first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was put up two years earlier during the Depression in the mud by workers building the Art Deco complex. Among those expected to attend the ceremony is a Pascagoula, Miss., family whose new home was built in part with lumber from last year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, an 84-foot-tall Norway spruce. Tracey Davison and her four young daughters were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. They had moved into their first apartment just two days before the storm nearly destroyed their neighborhood near the Gulf Coast. Subsequently, Davison, a 40-year-old assistant teacher, and her daughters, with a few suitcases and bags in tow, lived in a friend’s home, at her brother’s, in a docked cruise ship and a Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer. Then Davison and Ashunti, 10, Nylah, 9, Majsa, 8, and Karly, 4, were chosen to receive a new Habitat for Humanity home that former President Jimmy Carter, among others, helped build, Davison said. The three-bedroom baby blue home was finished in September and the family moved in a couple of weeks ago. Davison says she pays a “very affordable” mortgage. Lumber from last year’s Rockefeller Center tree was used to build two-by-fours that were placed in the walls and floors in the home’s living room, Davison said. “It’s kinda like Christmas before Christmas,” Davison said after arriving in New York City. “It was a dream come true. We’re very very excited to be in the house.”Aww … it sounds like a really great event this year. I’m glad that Britney was able to be a part of it (methinks that Brit Brit will be flying back to SoCal sometime today, which is why she won’t be on the live special tonight — I understand that she will be appearing live on The Ellen DeGeneres Show tomorrow, tho). I managed to make my way up to Rockefeller Center Monday afternoon and I got to see the massive unlit tree. The tree and the ice skating are two of the most beloved Xmas traditions that NYC has to offer … at this point, it really is beginning to look a lot like Xmas. OY!
Source: Pink Is The New Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment