‘Cut it down!’
Blues Mills supplies annual Nova Scotia Christmas tree to Boston
With cries of, “Cut it down!” ringing out from many of the assembled schoolchildren, a 53-foot white spruce tree was felled in Blues Mills Wednesday, the tallest Christmas tree ever to be sent from Nova Scotia to thank Boston for its help after the Halifax Explosion.
The towering gift – a donation from private landowners Marion and Bob Campbell – will now be transported to Boston marking the 100th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion.
“We’re very proud that we’ve been able to donate this tree to the province to send to Boston,” Bob Campbell said in an interview. “The efforts of Boston after the Halifax Explosion were terrific, expedient, compassionate and a hard act to follow. We owe them our gratitude and we’re very pleased that we’re able to donate this tree in appreciation for their efforts.”
Marion noted for many years her husband had mused that maybe one of their trees would be worthy of sending to Boston, although they never pursued it. Then, one day this past July, a representative of the Department of
Natural Resources came calling.
“He left his card, we returned his calls and it all went from there,” Marion said.
“It’s going to be very heartwarming. Our family is all a big part of this, we have many friends, family in Boston and, yeah, it’s going to be very dear to us. A celebration we’ll never forget and probably once in a lifetime.”
It’s the second year in a row the tree came from Inverness County, with the gift coming from Ainslie Glen last year, although it came from Crown land. That was the first time a tree from Cape Breton had been selected.
Prior to the tree being cut down, John ( Tiny) Cremo of nearby Waycobah performed a smudging ceremony around its base.
In 1917, Boston sent medical personnel and supplies when nearly 2,000 people were killed and hundreds more left injured and homeless by the Halifax Explosion.
Natural Resources Minister Margaret Miller called the tree a symbol of gratitude, remembrance and friendship. She said they wanted to outdo prior efforts, in an effort to mark the centennial of the Halifax Explosion.
“This is monumental,” she said in an interview. “A standard tree just wasn’t going to do this year so we made sure we found the best and the biggest we could find in Nova Scotia to really showcase how important this representation is to the people of Nova Scotia in a gift to Boston.
“It’s beautifully shaped, it will represent Nova Scotia well.”
Stacey Richardson of Margaree took in the tree-cutting with her 11-month-old son Bryan.
“Just the experience, I guess,” she said, when asked why she wanted to attend. “It happened last year as well and we were able to come and I was disappointed so I’m happy that we were able to come this year.”
There will be a public farewell for the tree at Halifax’s Grand Parade on Friday and it will be featured in Saturday’s Parade of Lights in that city.
Students from Whycocomagh Education Centre, the We’koqma’q Mi’kmaw School and the Inverness Education Centre attended the ceremony, while We’koqma’qewiskwa, a drum group from the Waycobah First Nation, performed.
Last year CBC reported that Nova Scotia spent $242,000 in 2015 to send the tree to Boston, including about $116,000 to the City of Boston and an ABC affiliate for a one-hour tree-lighting special.