The Jamestown Moose Lodge has always been focused on helping the community. This winter, their generosity will be the centerpiece at Jamestown City Hall.
The Christmas tree that stands in Tracy Plaza was donated by the Jamestown Moose Lodge 1681 this year. The Colorado Blue Spruce has stood in front of the lodge on the corner of Liberty and Fifth streets for nearly 100 years, growing to almost 70 feet in height.
"The tree has a nice shape and form to it, and what's nice about this today is that it's a short trip to City Hall," said Dan Stone, city arborist.
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According to Stone, a crew from the City Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department, along with assistance from a crane from the Board of Public Utilities, loaded it onto a trailer that was donated by Lake Shore Paving for its short journey to Tracy Plaza at City Hall. Now that it is in place, city employees will decorate it with more than 2,000 LED lights for the Christmas season.
"I'll need at least 40 feet of the tree to put on Tracy Plaza, which is the limit on our reach," said Stone. "With the 70-footer here, we'll trim it to about 50 feet today, put it on the trailer and then trim it as we need. Usually after today I end up starting to get calls for next year's tree, too, so it's really easy on us."
Dan Bragg, acting administrator of the Jamestown Moose Lodge 1681, said that talks began about three weeks ago regarding the donation of the tree.
"Dan Stone stopped by the lodge and presented me with the option of donating the tree for Tracy Plaza," Bragg said. "I have to go through a board of directors, but that night we were scheduled to have a meeting, the board approved the measure and I called him back to let him know that they could use the tree. It's been a difficult time for us here, financially, so we saw this as one way that we could give back to the community even in these tough times."
Moose International, the parent organization of the Moose Lodge 1681 in Jamestown, is a community-minded group that places emphasis on giving back to communities through a wide range of programs, including holiday parties for children, social events for their club members and more. The donation of the tree for use in Tracy Plaza was just one of the many ways that the local chapter of Moose International works to better the City of Jamestown.
For more information on the Moose International Organization, visit www.mooseintl.org and for information regarding Jamestown Moose Lodge 1681, call 664-4909 or visit the lodge at 4909 E. Fifth St.