Local sourced Christmas tree arrives in Portland for holiday

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A bit of Christmas is arriving in Portland’s Monument Square.

Maine’s largest city has a tradition of using a local tree to adorn its most visible public space.

https://twitter.com/AMayerWGME/status/801054421660631040

City arborist Jeff Tarling says the city made a search of the Portland area and chose one donated by Barbara Ripley. She gave the city a 40-foot blue spruce tree.

The tree arrived in Monument Square on Nov. 17 and will be lit with more than 3,000 lights donated by Efficiency Maine. The Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m.

___

This story has been corrected to say the tree was donated by Barbara Ripley, not J.B. Brown & Sons, and the lighting ceremony is at 5 p.m., not 5:30 p.m.