Hamilton spruce bound for Rockefeller Center

A 72-foot-high, 40-foot-wide Norway Spruce was chopped down in Hamilton Thursday and will soon stand as the 2008 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The spruce was donated by Tree King owners Bob and

News 12 Staff

Nov 13, 2008, 11:32 PM

Updated 5,906 days ago

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A 72-foot-high, 40-foot-wide Norway Spruce was chopped down in Hamilton Thursday and will soon stand as the 2008 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.
The spruce was donated by Tree King owners Bob and Bill Varanyak. Their mother planted it in 1931, and the brothers say she had early inklings the tree would end up in the Big Apple.
?She nourished the tree with cow manure,? says Bill Varanyak. ??I would say ?Mom, why are you doing that?? She said, ?Someday it will end up in New York.??
Being selected to provide the most famous Christmas tree in the world was emotional for the Varanyaks.
"I'm very happy it?s going there,? says Bob Varanyak. ?It?s going to light up the skies in Rockefeller Center."