NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The temperatures were in the 70s on Friday but signs the holiday season is close at hand were apparent with the delivery of this year's city Christmas trees. 

 

"I look forward to this every year," Assistant Wire and Alarm Inspector Mitchell Meranti said. "We all do."

 

The first tree was delivered and installed at the top of Main Street a little after 9 Friday morning. It came from Windsor and was donated by Beth and Marcus Webb.

 

Meranti said it is the larger of the two trees and is just under 30 feet weighing in at about 1,500 pounds.

 

He said city staff went to retrieve the tree earlier Friday morning. 

 

"I have a harness that I put around the trunk of the tree, and I go up in the bucket, hook on the crane, they lift it and then the guy on the ground cuts the tree," Meranti said. "The crane lifts it and we pretty much lay it right on the trailer."

 

Setting it up is essentially the reverse. The crane, usually provided by Atlantis Corp. of Stephentown, N.Y., lifts the tree up, a Department of Public Works employee chainsaws some of the lower branches off the tree, and then the tree is guided into a base near the Main Street monument.

 

Meranti said once secure, they will stabilize the tree with cables and then string the lights up. 

 

"It is pretty straight forward," he said. "Honestly the hardest part is putting the lights on." 

 

The second tree is local and was delivered from Olds Street. It was donated by Debbie Sullivan in memory of  her mother, Elizabeth Lavigne Patterson. Patterson, who died March at age 90, worked as an accountant at the former General Cable for many years and at Chenail's Farm Fresh, both in Williamstown.

 

The tree, about 18-20 feet tall, was installed Rosenthal Square near City Hall about noon. It is expected to be joined by the city's menorah for Hannukah, which begins on Dec. 10. 

 

Meranti said it is getting more difficult to find local trees that are accessible.

 

"These trees are getting harder and harder to find," he said. "I think we got a lot of the local ones. They are out there, we just have to travel farther."