The Birth of a Christmas Tradition

That first Christmas in New York I knew exactly what I wanted to do. See the tree lighting at Rockefeller Plaza.

I’d watched it for too many years on television and finally I was going in real life!

Fifth Avenue was wall to wall people, more crowded than the French Quarter on Mardi Gras Day. My feet left the ground, and I was carried by the shuffling throng right up to the life-sized horn-blowing angels at the entranceway to the plaza, where the tree towered over the ice skating rink.

I was the slightest bit scared, but the perfect view opened up at the very moment the lights flashed on and lit up the sky. I’ll never forget it.

Every year about this time a helicopter flies over the big-tree states up north in search of the grandest tree of all. And every one seems to have a story.

Last year the lucky tree was spotted in Hamilton, N.J. An 8-ton, 72-foot Norway spruce. Turns out it had been planted by a couple named Varanyak in 1931, after celebrating their first Christmas together.

That same year, taking a break from the construction of Rockefeller Plaza, Depression-era workers decorated their own humble tree with whatever was handy—cranberries, paper, a few tin cans. A tradition was born, and each year the Rockefeller tree and its decorations grew more elaborate.

Mrs. Varanyak came to believe that their Christmas tree would one day be on display for all to see. Seventy-seven years after the couple planted it, a scout pointed down from his helicopter in the sky: “That’s the one.”

We celebrate with a tree here in the office too, our angel tree. Send in your handmade ornament, and tell us the story behind it. Share in the
festivities at angelsonearth.com. It’s a tradition to rival Rockefeller’s.