A magnificent Douglas fir donated by an Upper Freehold farm will serve as Monmouth County’s Christmas tree this year.
The tree, which stand 30 feet tall, rolled into downtown Freehold last weekaboard a flatbed truck and stands in front of the Hall of Records, East Main Street. It isbeing decorated in preparation of Monday’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony,sponsored by the Freehold Center Partnership.
The tree was discovered on a 10-acre site on Route 539 owned by High RidgeFarms. County Shade Tree employee John O’Connor had spotted a group of tallevergreens in that area and inquired with the owner about the possibility of donatingone for a holiday display.
”They gave me a couple of choices and we picked the Douglas fir,” Mr. O’Connor said.County workers cut the tree down on Tuesday and brought to Freehold that afternoon,where the trunk was trimmed with a chain saw in order to fit it into the county’stree stand.
High Ridge Farms owns a total of 1,100 acres of White pine, Serbian Spruce,Douglas Fir, Norway Spruce, Colorado Spruce and Montgomery Spruce, to name a few.The owners were happy to be part of the county’s holiday celebration, said Dawn Matyi,a farm employee.
”We thought we would do something nice for the county,” Ms. Matyi said. “It’s nice togive back to the community.”
Throughout December, Freehold Center Partnership has a number of other specialevents planned. In addition to the Christmas Tree Lightning program, a Menorah LightingProgram will be held Dec. 6; the Freehold Comcast Holiday Concert is Dec. 7; Santa’sTrain is on Dec. 8; breakfast with Santa is Dec. 18, and a caroling hayride is Dec. 21.
