The arrival of The Grove’s 100-foot white fir Christmas tree on a flatbed truck is the start of the mall’s official holiday shopping season festivities. The majestic tree, hand-picked from Northern California’s Mt. Shasta region, arrived at The Grove before dawn. You may have heard KTLA Sky5’s helicopter circling to film the arrival.
The process of installing the tree took quite some time this morning. We arrived as workers were getting ready to hoist the tree with a giant crane into the hole filled with a long spike for stabilizing and centering the tree. When we left an hour later, workers were still fine-tuning the installation.
According to officials at The Grove, the tree is chosen once it’s “nearing 80 years or older, marking the end of its woodland life cycle.” Soon the tree will be decorated with 15,000 sparkling lights and 10,000 decorative ornaments. The official tree lighting ceremony is scheduled for November 13. Festivities will include special performances by David Foster, Katharine McPhee, and other special guests. The event is free and open to the public, though space is limited and parking rates are subject to change. If you prefer, the show will also be available through the streaming service VEEPS.
The iconic tree’s arrival kicks off The Grove’s festive holiday programming, including photo moments with Santa at his workshop starting November 20, nightly snowfalls beginning November 25, and more. The Americana at Brand’s Christmas tree will arrive on November 7 and The Promenade at Westlake will light up the sky with its annual Tree Lighting Ceremony on November 17.
After the holidays, the tree will converted to mulch and compost.
Now that Mr. Caruso’s admirable actions of erecting the grand Christmas tree at the Grove, how about some impartial journalism about the downside?
1. Trees can live well over 100 years in their habitat, so the claim of the 80 y.o. tree nearing the end of its lifespan may be specious.
2. Trees absorb CO2 and emit life-supporting oxygen. This tree will no longer be able to do that.
3. This tree will no longer serve as a habitat for birds, tree-dwelling mammals, insects and microbes it supports in the ground.
4. The tree will use an unnecessary amount of electricity in a 100-year-old neighborhood that suffers from a deteriorated and overtaxed electrical grid. The surrounding area experiences partial blackouts in extreme weather. Why tax an already frail infrastructure?
5. The tree symbolizes and glorifies one religion to the exclusion of other religions and cultures.
6. The increased air pollution of trucking in the tree, related traffic mitigations, and helicopter support add to unneeded congestion in an already congested neighborhood. 7. Increased pollution and traffic congestion from visitors to the Grove also prohibit rapid response from emergency vehicles responding to fires and paramedic-required services.
And, according to the US Forest Service website, if in fact, it is a white fir, it can live 300 – 400 years. So, Caruso cut down an adolescent tree.
Toby Horn