No Tree for Boston public event at Grand Parade this year

By Meghan Groff

For the second year in a row, COVID-19 has impacted the annual Tree for Boston event.

Usually there is a public send-off at Grand Parade, however like last year, that won't take place. 

“There will be no in-person public events leading up to the Tree for Boston's departure in Halifax due to the COVID-19 global pandemic,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables in an emailed statement.

This year's tree is a 60-year-old, 48-foot white spruce from Inverness County.

It's being donated by non-profit organization L'Arche Cape Breton, which works with people who have disabilities.

There will be a tree cutting ceremony on its Orangedale property November 10, which members of the L'Arche community will be able to attend.

And, like last year, the tree will be transported by sea to Massachusetts after being loaded onto a Eimskip Canada container vessel.

It will leave the Port of Halifax on November 15, arriving at the Boston Common days later. An official lighting ceremony will take place on December 2.

Nova Scotia has sent a Christmas tree every year since 1971 to thank Bostonians for the assistance they sent following the Halifax Explosion.

“In response to the explosion in 1917, Boston extended a hand of friendship to Halifax, which was accepted with open arms and returned with an endless thanksgiving through the Tree for Boston,” said L'Arche Cape Breton's executive director Mukthar Limpao.

“This connects deeply with us in L'Arche. In the service of our mission, we aspire to build the same values of relationship and gratitude every day.”

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