The city of Fall River marked the beginning of the holiday season in November with the cutting of the official City Christmas tree. This year's tree, a 50-foot tall, 5200-pound specimen, was sourced from the Souza Family Residence on Crestwood Street. Al Olera, director of City operations, noted that crews aim to have the tree in place before Thanksgiving for its lighting ceremony, highlighting the spectacle of the tree being hoisted over 100 feet in the air. City events coordinator Samantha Barbosa informed the Souza family that their tree, which had been a fixture in their yard for about 35 years, was selected for 2024. The tree program, active for nearly 15 years, allows the city to acquire a Christmas tree at no cost to the homeowner. Residents have increasingly offered their trees to the mayor's office at City Hall, simplifying what was once a challenging task for the city. The tree is now strung with hundreds of lights and awaiting the mayor to officially illuminate it, serving as a warming invite to the city of Fall River, visible from the other side of the Taunton River.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Watch the video to verify.
City Officials
Public / Other
in Fall River one of the first signs of the holidays is the buzzing sound of a chainsaw on a November morning that's right believe it or not for the official City Christmas tree to be ready for its lighting ceremony Crews need to have it in place before Thanksgiving according to Al olera director of City operations everyone looks forward to the spectacle of a tree being hoisted over 100 ft in the air
0:33it's an exciting time and it's Christmas so that's the perfect time to uh be joyful and that's that's our goal this year's tree is a doozy coming from the Souza Family Residence on Crestwood Street it weighs over 2 and 1/2 tons or 5200 lb and at approximately 50 ft tall it crests over the city council chambers visible from the other side of the Taunton River just being able to see off
1:01the brag of bridge you'll be able to visually see that and that's just a warming invite to the city of PA River City events coordinator Samantha Barbosa delivered the good news to the homeowners that their tree was selected for 2024 it was planted by the family and has been a fixture in their yard for about 35 years I know his family came outside this morning while we were kind
1:22of cutting it down and loading it up and they were very excited and they were happy to see this tree moving on this tree tree has been around nearly as long as I have I should know I grew up on Crestwood Street too just a few houses down from the soua family but now the tree has left the neighborhood strung with hundreds of lights and awaiting the mayor to flip that switch and make it
1:46Glow in past holiday seasons finding a tree has been challenging for the city but recently quite a few residents have reached out to the mayor's office at City Hall offering their tree we definitely get some calls of people who want to give us their tree so it just comes down to what size we're looking for you know how full is it if we can move it and things like that the tree
2:08program has been around for almost 15 years and it's a win-win the city gets a tree for the holidays at no cost to the owner at Government Center I'm Evan massud