Berkshire Christmas Tree Will Be Used in Habitat Houses
A screenshot of the West Stockbridge tree from its lighting in December.
Carolyn Valli, CEO of Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, will light the tree in New York City for the final time on Saturday. That's because the lumber from the 74-foot tall spruce will donated to the nonprofit.
"We are so proud to be the recipient of the milled lumber from this year's tree," Central Berkshire Habitat posted on its Facebook page.
"We are also thankful to the Albert family of West Stockbridge for donating this beautiful gift and now we will pay it forward by incorporating the lumber into the homes we're building in Berkshire County."
According to Rockefeller Center, the trees have been donated to Habitat for Humanity International to be milled into lumber since 2007. They are usually Norway spruce, good for flooring, furniture and cabinetry.
After spending a few weeks covered with 50,000 LED lights to delight visitors, the trees are cut into large pieces and taken to a mill in New Jersey. From there, the wood is kiln-dried, milled and planed and then sent to the selected Habitat chapter.
According to the center, the wood's been used to build homes in Philadelphia and in Mississippi, and a beam from the 2013 tree has been used in Bridgeport, Conn., homes for several years.
In this case, the wood will go to Central Berkshire Habitat, which has been helping residents to become homeowners since 1992 in both Central and South County.
The decision to donate the trees was based on the children's book "The Carpenter's Gift," written in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity. It's about a young boy and his father selling Christmas trees during the Great Depression to get by.
They give a tree to the workers building the Rockefeller Center in 1931 and the boy wishes on it for a warm home, which is provided by his friends and neighbors. Decades later, he donates a large tree he's grown from seed to the center, which in turn gifts the lumber to build a house.
This year's Berkshire spruce won't build a house but it will be used for stair treads in Habitat homes for years to come.
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