BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Bill Brinks wasn’t merely supervising the placing of the city’s 45-feet-high Christmas tree.
He was drinking in its timeless magic.
“We’re not just putting up a tree,” Brinks, the electrician supervisor for the City of Bethlehem, said Wednesday as the tree was erected at Payrow Plaza between city hall and the library on Wednesday.
“You look at the tree and it takes you back to when you were young."Bill Brinks, electrician supervisor, City of Bethlehem
“You look at the tree and it takes you back to when you were young," Brinks said. "You see the tree and the lights and the decorations. Everybody remembers what that was like when you were a kid.
“It pulls at the heart strings.”
City workers and a private crane service, Dickinson & Sons Crane Service, of Reading, erected the 45-foot, 22-feet wide, 6,000-pound pine tree. The company donates its services each year.
Beginning Friday and through next week, the tree will be adorned with 25,000 to 30,000 colored lights. A new 3D star with a soft-white glow will be placed at its top.
The tree was donated by a resident from Lower Nazareth Township in a cul-de-sac off Southgate Circle.
Donating a tree
The tree was cut down Wednesday morning in about 45 minutes.
The cutting down of a tree in a residential neighborhood is an involved process. A large crane vehicle is used to secure the top of the tree while it is cut down. It's then loaded onto a flatbed truck.
For Bethlehem Electrical Bureau Chief Greg Cryder, finding the city’s Christmas tree is a pleasure passion.
As has been his joyful undertaking for the past 16 years, Cryder again drove around wide sections of the Lehigh Valley in search of the perfect tree for the Christmas City.
"I hunt for the best tree, to find it."Bethlehem Electrical Bureau Chief Greg Cryder
“I intend to retire in the next few years,” Cryder, 60, said. “So I took Billy up with me to get him up to speed. I hunt for the best tree, to find it.
“I’d already driven all the streets in Bethlehem and Bethlehem Township. So I told Billy we’re going to go out further this year. I thought it would be a rich-target environment with bigger yards.”
The pair found the perfect tree last month.
“Bill saw it and said, ‘How about that one?’” Cryder said. “We knocked on the door but got no answer. The next day, we went back and knocked, but again no answer.
“But we saw a lady walking her dog. She said she saw the municipal vehicle at her house and asked if something was wrong.
"She was the tree owner. After talking to her husband, she agreed to donate the tree to the city for Christmas.”
The identity of the family that donated the tree will be revealed during Bethlehem’s annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29.
The event will consist of live carols and music, an appearance by Santa and cookies and crafts.
But before then, Cryder, Brinks and Co. will be busy.
On Thursday, the city will erect a second Christmas tree — this one 35-feet-high and donated by a private resident in Bethlehem Township — at the ramp at Second Avenue
No lights yet.
But plenty of magic.
