On Friday, December 2, at 6 p.m., North Branford residents will gather at a new, central site to celebrate the annual Holiday Tree Lighting. The new site is Augur's Field, home of the town's Potato and Corn Festival (POCO). There, a newly-planted live Christmas tree is set to shine as center of annual town holiday tree lighting events for decades to come.

The idea to move the town's tree lighting to the Augur Property was a goal for Lauren Munro, Director of Parks, Recreation and Seniors. Munro invites all residents to "...please come out and experience the first Holiday Tree Lighting on the town-owned Augur Property."

Munro became director in 2015 and since that time, she and her team have been working with other town departments and community organizations to bring about what she hopes will become a treasured town tradition for years to come.

To help create the change, North Branford Rotary Club generously donated the live Christmas tree, and Christensen Landscape Services (Northford) generously donated installation of the tree, said Munro. Munro is also grateful to North Branford Public Works Department Director Fran Merola for working his magic to bring electricity out to the site.

"I am ecstatic that we have a centralized tree, thanks to North Branford Rotary and Christensen Landscape Services, to bring both ends of our town together," said Munro. "I can only imagine what this event will grow into. The ideas are flowing, and we cannot wait make this into a community event that all will be waiting for to come again next year."

Standing 14 feet tall, the Norway Spruce will take a couple of years to establish in its new home and then should begin to grow at a rate of about one and half feet per year. The tree should enjoy a long life and will eventually reach between 30 to 40 feet tall, said Donna Christensen.

"It's very much the classic Christmas tree," said Christensen. "A Norway Spruce is what they bring down to the New Haven green and have in New York in Rockefeller Center, so I figured this was going to be a classic. This is a pretty good, open location, so it should achieve its full height, and they are very long-lived trees. Hopefully, my grandchildren will be able to enjoy it in the future."

Christensen found the tree and coordinated the tree contribution effort as both a local business owner of 28 years and as a member of North Branford Rotary.

"The reason we donated our services for installation is because I'm a long-time member of North Branford Rotary Club, and Rotary has been trying to find a way to make this contribution for the town," said Christensen. "When we learned they had found a spot for a tree and were going to be able to have the holiday gathering centralized there, [Rotary] asked if I would want to coordinate the project; because it is what we do every day. So we were able to find a nice, good-sized large tree; and the Rotary Club paid for the tree."

On Dec. 2, the lights that will twinkle from the tree for the very first time will be lit by none other than Santa himself. Santa will arrive on a fire truck from North Branford Fire Department (NBFD) Company 2 at approximately 6:15 p.m., confirmed Interim Recreation Supervisor Rosanne Krajewski.

Once Santa lights the tree, there will be supervised marshmallow roasting (overseen by NBFD Co. 2) and children can take pictures with Santa (parents, please bring your own camera). There will be caroling to make the evening bright, tractor hayrides around the Festival site with resident Cliff Potter, a children's petting zoo from Triple Dale Farm Petting Zoo, hot chocolate and cookies provided by North Branford Rotary Club, and an ice sculpting demonstration arranged by North Branford Parks and Recreation.

Recreation Assistant Jonathan Brouillard, who helped add a petting zoo to last year's tree lighting, said the POCO site is the perfect place to gather.

"We all gather together in the summer for the festival; now join us for the annual tree lighting on the beautiful town-owned Augur property to kick off the holiday season," said Brouillard.