Holiday Cheer: Portland’s Tree Arrives at Monument Square on Thursday

The tree is coming! The tree is coming! Portland's holiday tree will arrive on Monument Square on Thursday.

We "need a little Christmas" as the song goes, and the tree will certainly brighten spirits downtown.

This year's tree is a beauty and has an interesting story: it was found pretty much by coincidence!

From Jeff Tarling, the City of Portland arborist:

“On November 2nd, Portland witnessed a high wind event with the passing of a cold front that we all might remember,” said Tarling. “Forestry crews responded to a down tree and as part of the clean-up later in the week, Forestry Supervisor Lucas Lermond noticed a beautiful Balsam Fir growing really close to a nearby home. This is often a signal that a once small tree has outgrown its space. We left our contact information and, to our surprise and delight, the property owner responded that they would like to donate the tree!”

The Portland Tree is a 40 foot Balsam Fir, located at 96 Florida Avenue in Portland,  and is being donated by Hilary Carr Shorey and James Shorey. The tree will be moved on Thursday morning beginning around 8 AM with the tree leaving the site around 9 AM.

The tree route will be Ray Street to Washington Avenue across Tukey's Bridge to Congress Street to Monument Square.

We won't all be gathering and have our traditional tree lighting ceremony this year, but you can see the beautiful tree anytime you want with the TREE CAM that will be set up.