Last year's fake Christmas tree.

“It’s gorgeous,” said Rita Hart, a spokeswoman for the city.

The city will hold its annual tree-lighting ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday at the newly opened Port St. Lucie Civic Center with live music and a visit from Santa.

City officials have long had a poor track record where Christmas trees are concerned.

Eight real Christmas trees have died of various causes — too little water, too much water, hurricanes — on the front lawn of city hall since 1999, prompting a decision last year by city staff to rent a 30-foot-tall artificial tree instead.

That plan went sour, though, with council members objecting to the $11,750 annual price tag, attempting to cancel the contract and discovering it was too late. An anonymous donor stepped in and paid for the tree.

The only tree to actually survive for long — a 40-foot southern red cedar — was intentionally cut down in 1998 to make way for a new city hall. When eight more trees died in roughly that same spot, Mayor Patricia Christensen and former Mayor Bob Minksy began to joke that they should have brought in a pastor to bless — or exorcise — the lawn.

This year’s tree — a 24-foot-tall Norway spruce grown in North Carolina and sold by a company in Lake Worth — cost $9,750, but was paid for by the Mann Research Center, Hart said. Florida Power & Light Co. also donated money for LED lights, which use less power than traditional lights.

The real question, though, is will its freshness last until after Christmas?

“I hope so,” Hart said.

Uh-oh, Christmas tree
1998: The city cuts down its longtime tree, a 40-foot southern red cedar, to make way for a new city hall. A 20-foot southern red cedar is planted as a replacement in December.
April 1999: The 20-foot tree dies. The city’s urban forester blames the drought.
September 1999: A 10-foot white cedar isplanted.
November 1999: City officials deem the new tree too small, so they buy a 20-foot red cedar from a White City nursery and plant it about 25 feet away.
March 2000: The white cedar dies, cause uncertain.
April 2001: The red cedar, now 25 feet, dies, presumably from over-watering. The nursery also failed to remove burlap and wire mesh that held the roots intact, promoting root rot, employees say.
2001: The city replaces the larger tree with another 20-foot red cedar, excavating a large area of rock and dirt and adding nutrient-enriched topsoil.
September 2004: Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne topple the red cedar, which isdeemed unsalvageable.
November 2004: The city buys a 35-foot cedar from North Florida and plants it.
October 2005: Hurricane Wilma dooms the fifth tree.
November 2005: Another cedar is planted.
April 2006: The sixth tree dies, cause unknown.
June 2006: A Fort Pierce landscaper donates a new variety of tree to the city: A30-foot Leyland cypress from South Carolina.
July 2006: The tree dies in six weeks, probably of drought stress, which allowed a canker to invade it.
November 2006: A Fort Pierce landscaper donates a large Southern red cedar and plants it in the same spot.
April 2007: The tree dies.
Nov. 2007: City council members object to renting an artificial tree for $11,750 and try to cancel the contract only to discover it’s too late. A donor steps in and pays for it.
Nov. 2008: A sponsor pays $9,750 for a freshly cut Norway spruce to stand in front of the new Port St. Lucie Civic Center.

Tags: Christmas tree

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Community events, Port St. Lucie, Weird News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.