Connecticut Tree Spruces Up Rockefeller Plaza

An 88-foot Norway spruce from Connecticut headed to Manhattan yesterday to become the 2006 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

"It is hugely exciting and it's huge news in the neighborhood," said Rob Kinnaird, 58, an antique car restorer who remembers watching the tree grow outside his window as a child in Ridgefield, a community of about 22,000 people 70 miles southwest of Hartford.

"I have pictures of my mom holding me out by the tree," said Kinnaird, adding that seeing it at Rockefeller Center will be a perfect end for the tree.

The tree is traditionally decorated with at more than 30,000 lights and topped with a Swarovski crystal star. It will be lighted during a ceremony on November 29th and broadcast on NBC. The tree will stay up until January 8th, continuing an annual tradition that began in 1933.



(Above) Tree arrives in Manhattan.

Photos from AP