November 30, 2005
Conifer colossal Christmas cheer
Downtown Traverse City holiday tree grows from hand held seedling to 7,800 pound and 40 foot green spruce
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A twinkling holiday tradition, the city's oversized Christmas tree is a long way from its sapling days.
Towering majestically over the intersection of Cass and Front Street, sparkling with colored lights, the tree put down roots 30 years ago in a subdivision in Garfield Township. Art and Carolyn Neumann planted it, one of five spruce saplings they picked up from the Department of Natural Resources in 1975 shortly after moving to the new Horizons II subdivision.
Three decades and 40 feet of growth later, Denny and Nancy Habedank, the home's current owners, donated the massive tree to the city. The Habedanks needed to remove the tree because it's proximity to their home was causing problems.
With the downtown Christmas tree in mind, they tapped their son, Rob, who works for the city's Department of Parks and Recreation, for guidance. He told them to suggest the tree to the department, which every year fields and evaluates numerous recommendations. Loren Vaughn, the city's Parks and Recreation superintendent, said they received 25 offers of donation and wound up choosing the Habedank tree.
"Usually in late October, early November, I'll go look at the ones that have called and take pictures of the trees and try to determine which would be the best one," noted Vaughn. "I also look at distance from the city."
While the city prefers a donation from within the city limits, it is not required. Using donated equipment, including a crane and trailer, from Elmer's Crane and Dozer, the tree was cut on Friday, November 18. The huge pine clocked in at 7,800 pounds with a trunk girth of 28 inches.
Very round and full, it was a tight squeeze to get the tree out of the neighborhood.
"It just about brushed all the mailboxes as it went down the street," said Denny Habedank, noting his family purchased the home six years ago.
"I told our son to take good care of it," added Nancy Habedank of Rob's help cutting and hauling the tree to its holiday perch.
Once in town, Vaughn said the large base of the tree required some surgery to squeeze into the special manhole that holds the trunk.
"We had to do some whittling to fit the trunk into the 20-inch manhole," said Vaughn. "That's all it's there for, for the Christmas tree, it was put in there back in about 1993 or 94."
The next Monday and Tuesday, a city crew including the younger Habedank, put up the lights and holiday banner. As they do every year after Thanksgiving Day, the city formally unveiled the tree and welcomed Santa Claus to help light it Friday evening.
Now a blaze of light and good cheer, the tree started out small enough to fit in Art Neumann's hand. In 1974, the Neumanns moved into one of the first homes built in the subdivision, which at the time was barren of trees. Two of the five saplings they planted died but the other three survived: a green, white and blue spruce. The one harvested for the downtown Christmas tree is the green spruce, Neumann said.
"My daughter, Lori, is 32 now, and she remembers turning the hose on it," he added.
The Habedanks are pleased that their former tree has found a new home for the month, especially given the family connections.
"It's kind of unique, because our son cut it and decorated it," said Denny Habedank. "Now everybody can enjoy it."