To create privacy behind her townhouse, Nona Lee planted a blue spruce tree in her backyard.
“I didn’t want bushes,” the lifelong Hill District woman said, adding, “they’re a lot of work.”
For many years, Mrs. Lee decorated the tree with lights and ornaments. Fifteen years later, when the $5 plant grew to be 33 feet tall, she donated it to the city of Pittsburgh for its annual holiday tree display in the City-County Building’s portico.
Last Saturday, a crew from the city’s Department of Public Works arrived at her Webster Avenue home at 7 a.m., cut the blue spruce and hoisted it onto a flatbed truck.
“It was really amazing how they did it. I didn’t know how they were going to get it out of there. They knew what they were doing,” Mrs. Lee said.
By 10 a.m. Saturday, the tree was standing in the City-County Building’s portico, said Lisa Ceoffe, the city’s forester, adding that it was decorated by the end of that day.
Before the blue spruce was removed from her backyard, Mrs. Lee, a 78-year-old mother of two daughters and one son, gathered with her family to pose for pictures in front of it.
Mrs. Lee has seven grand children and seven great-grand children. Her daughter, April Lee, lives in the Knoxville neighborhood and her son, John, lives in the Hill District. A second daughter, Bonnie Lee, lives in Atlanta, Ga. Every year, Mrs. Lee and her family take the bus Downtown for Light Up Night.
But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no tree lighting ceremony this year. For a virtual ceremony, check this website: https://pittsburghpa.gov/events/tree
James Hill, executive assistant to Mayor Bill Peduto, said the Pittsburgh tradition of putting up and decorating a live tree began in 1915 when the City-County Building was just a construction site on Grant Street.
World wars interrupted the tradition. One year, Mayor Sophie Masloff placed the tree in the building’s lobby instead of outdoors. This is the 105th year city employees have cut, installed and decorated Downtown’s only live tree. At the end of the season, Mr. Hill said, the tree is mulched and used in city parks.
Putting up the city’s holiday tree entails lots of logistical planning plus participation by nearly every city department, Ms. Ceoffe said. When tree selection starts in July, the city receives as many as 100 offers from people eager to donate.
“Most of them are Charlie Brown trees,” Ms. Ceoffe said, adding that her department chooses the tree, cuts and moves it.
The city’s traffic division posts No Parking signs, a paint shop makes banners to recognize the tree donor, carpenters build a tree stand, electricians make sure all the lines are in place and public safety employees escort the tree while it is transported.
“We have to make sure we can get into the City County building,” Ms. Ceoffe said, adding that the building’s metal detectors have to be removed before a lift can be moved onto the outdoor plaza to decorate the tree. Parks and recreation employees decorate the tree with ornaments that symbolize the city’s 90 neighborhoods. Ironworkers hoist and secure wreaths.
In past years, the city’s tree has been as tall as 60 feet but this year’s specimen, Ms. Ceoffe said, was easier to maneuver because it is 33 feet tall.
“The smaller tree looks perfect. It fills the space,” Ms. Ceoffe said.
“It’s an honor to put the city of Pittsburgh’s live tree in place. I think it brings a lot of joy to people,” Ms. Ceoffe added.
As for Mrs. Lee’s backyard, the city will come by next spring to plant a smaller, flowering tree on Rowley Street.
The tree will be lit during a ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The event will livestreamed on the city’s social media and YouTube channels.
It will feature Mr. Peduto with Santa Claus, members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s brass section, and a performance by Duquesne University’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble.
The tree will be on display through early January.
Marylynne Pitz at mpitz@post-gazette.com or on Twitter@mpitzpg
First Published: November 16, 2020, 10:10 p.m.
