Old Sacramento's Christmas tree delivered; lighting ceremony set for Nov. 22
SACRAMENTO – It's about to start looking a lot like Christmas in Old Sacramento.
The historic district's Christmas tree was delivered early Monday morning.
This year's tree is a 60' tapered white fir from Shasta County that weighs about 12,000 pounds. Officials say the tree was about 35-40 years old.
Crews will now be decorating the tree between now and the official lighting ceremony on Nov. 22, the day before Thanksgiving. The lighting also kicks off Old Sacramento's "Theatre of Lights" season, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.
Ron Geramone, a retired supervisor of the Sacramento Parks Department, was one city employee who helped spark the idea of bringing a tree to the area.
"I asked, 'How come we didn't have a Christmas tree?' " he said.
It started with that one question nearly 20 years ago.
"We kind of felt left out because the state had one and Downtown Plaza had one," Geramone said.
So with cooperation between city departments, Geramone came up with the plan to officially bring a tree to Old Sacramento.
Troy Carlson with the Stage Nine Entertainment Store oversees the installation. A crane helps lower the tree base into a 15-foot concrete hole, crews fill it with sand and then shim it to keep it stable.
"So we have volunteers and then we have our design studio," Carlson said. "Fifteen of us working on this for three weeks."
As in years past, the tree is being set up at the intersection of Front and K streets.
Head to the Old Sacramento website for a full list of holiday events being put on this year.
