Whitfield County plants Christmas tree

Charles Oliver, The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.
·2 min read

Apr. 2—Christmas arrived on Monday in Whitfield County.

That's when county officials planted a 21-foot Norway spruce they hope will be a beacon of Christmas cheer for decades to come across from the courthouse at the southwest corner of Selvidge Street and Crawford Street.

"This is like Christmas in April," said county Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen.

"We'll have a lighting ceremony starting this Christmas," said Jensen. "We'll have up to 15,000 LED lights and a star on the top. You'll be able to see it from Thornton Avenue back to Hamilton Street."

Funding for the tree was provided by an anonymous donor.

Jensen said the county may place a plaque in the donor's honor at the tree later this year.

"In a way, this is back to the future for us," he said. "The county used to have a tree on the south lawn of the courthouse that was decorated at Christmas. A lot of people have told me they remember the lighting of that tree each Christmas. But it had to be moved to make room for the lights or for the monuments that are there now."

A Norway spruce can grow to 60 feet or more in height and up to 30 feet in circumference.

"This tree has plenty of room to grow here, and if it needs to grow out into the parking lot, we'll make room in the parking lot," Jensen said.

The tree came from Monteagle, Tennessee.

"We really were looking for something larger," Jensen said. "But we had to look in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and North Carolina. If we tried to bring in something from further away, there's a chance it could die on the way here. and this was the biggest we could find in that area."