Rockefeller Tree to be Made Into Morris Homes
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…
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 ›