Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The 2012 Christmas tree donated by Flanders resident Joseph Balku will be used in the construction of houses for Morris County Habitat for Humanity.
When Joseph Balku agreed to have his 80-foot tall, ten-ton Norway spruce used as the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center, it was because he believed it was something everyone would see. "It is something the whole country can enjoy," Balku said. And now that the holidays are past, Balku's donation will now be enjoyed permanantly by Morris County families who need homes. According to a report by the Daily Record, Tishman Speyer, the company that co-owns and operates Rockefeller Center, is donating the lumber milled from this year’s Rockefeller tree to Morris Habitat for Humanity to be used as building material for local homes. Balku, a resident of Mount Olive since 1972, said that his tree survived Hurricane Sandy due to the timely wrapping…
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
80-foot Norway spruce cut from Mount Olive man's property.
One foot for every year. The Christmas tree for the 80th annual Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting ceremony is an 80-foot tall Norway spruce that came down on Flanders-Drakestown Road in Mt. Olive on Tuesday morning. This tree's felling was the first in weeks to be celebrated, rather than lamented, as the 10-ton tree wasn't part of the damage sustained during the recent visit by Hurricane Sandy. Joseph Balku, the Mount Olive resident who owns the property the tree resided on, said that the Nov. 12 festivities were the culmination of a whirlwind two months. "They called me two months ago," Balku said. "And three weeks ago they told me my tree was selected and I was happy to donate it." The street Balku lives on still shows scars of …
Monday, November 12, 2012
10-ton Norway Spruce to be cut down Tuesday morning in Mount Olive.
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Monday, November 12, 2012
From Morris County to Rockefeller Center. A 10-ton Norway Spruce will be cut down Tuesday morning in the Flanders section of Mount Olive and transported on a 115-foot-long trailer and transported to New York. The tree, which is 80 feet tall and 50 feet in diameter, will be brought down on the property of Joseph Balku and will be erected in Rockefeller Center on Wednesday. The 80th annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting ceremony will be held in two weeks on Wednesday, Nov. 28. This is the first time since 2009 a New Jersey tree will be used at Rockefeller Center, according to NJ.com.
Eileen Stokes
6:15 pm on Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Many thanks to Tishman Speyer for their sensitivity to the disposal of this tree that brought so much pleasure to so many and which acted locally as a symbol of survival and hope after Hurricane Sandy. Clyde Donovan, if the wood does cost more per board foot, and I would not assume that it will, it will most likely be a higher caliber wood. There is a huge problem in new growth wood these days. … more ›