Crews harvest Milwaukee City/County Christmas tree

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A festive morning with music and excitement, as the tree that will help the city and all of Milwaukee county celebrate the holidays came down.

"It's fun when you hear the saw starting to go, when they pick up the tree and then when they lay it carefully and correctly and nothing bad happens. This has been a really fun way to start the season," said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

The 40-foot Colorado Blue Spruce was donated by Loving Shepherd Lutheran Church and School.

This is the second time the church has donated a tree, the first was back in 2005.

"Pretty proud, that's kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity so the fact that our church has had it twice is really remarkable," said Loving Shepherd Lutheran Church and School Pastor Paul White.

2013 marks a very special year, as it's the 100th year of the Christmas tree celebration in Milwaukee.

This is the second oldest celebration of its kind right behind New York.

Once city officials spotted the tree outside Loving Shepherd Lutheran Church, they knew it would be perfect for the centennial.

"It was just one of those unexpected moments all of a sudden you get that knock on the door and you open it up and it's the city worker and you're going did we do something wrong," said Pastor White.

Crews sawed down the tree within a matter of minutes and spent about an hour harnessing it down on a truck to make the trip to its new home at Red Arrow Park.

"You can't lose a 35-year-old tree and be not a little sad somewhere, but at the same time they don't live forever and so to have it be part of such a special occasion is very fulfilling," says Pastor White.

A fulfilling celebration that everyone is welcome to join.

The tree lighting ceremony will take place on Wednesday, November 20th at 4:30pm at Red Arrow Park.