PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Carolers and holiday melodies gave way to the growl of a chain saw in the State House rotunda Monday as the desiccated remains of the official state Christmas tree was cut down down and replaced with a smaller, healthier specimen.

Not for the first time, the State House tree became a source of alarm and unwanted publicity late last week, in this case when it began to rapidly shed needles and start to bare its lower branches.

After resisting initial calls to replace the tree over the weekend, Gov. Gina Raimondo reversed course Monday as the condition of the original tree continued to deteriorate.

"People were calling the fire marshal," said spokesman David Ortiz on the decision to replace the tree with a fresh one.

The new tree arrived from Big John Leyden's Christmas Tree Farm in West Greenwich by Monday afternoon, replacing the denuded tree with a much smaller conifer with a healthy coat of needles.

Timothy Leyden, president of Leyden's Tree Farm, said the 12-foot fir was the largest he could get to the State House on short notice, but had great aroma and "needle retention."

The original tree, a 25-foot Fraser fir donated by a North Kingstown family, was installed in the rotunda Nov. 20. It's unclear exactly when it first began showing bare spots, but the Associated Press reported that it was "dead" last Friday.

Leyden Monday told the Journal that he didn't know why the original tree lost its needles, but the most common cause is dehydration.

If the tree wasn't placed in water soon enough it could dry out, he said. And if crews didn't freshly cut the stump before putting it in the watered tree stand, the wood could "scab over" and fail to absorb water added later.

"These trees can drink two to three gallons a day in the beginning before slowing down," he said.

Different tree types will stay green for different periods of time, Leyden said, with a good rule of thumb being that shorter needles will have a shorter life span.

Still, a fir like the rotunda tree should last 45 to 60 days, he said.

Rhode Island has a surprisingly difficult history with State House Christmas trees.

In 2005, the rotunda tree was denuded after being doused in fire retardant.

Raimondo's predecessor as governor, Lincoln Chafee, drew protests for insisting to call the tree a "holiday tree" instead of a Christmas tree.

And last year Raimondo's staff rejected the first Christmas tree chosen for the rotunda, which was selected at Leyden's Tree Farm, after it was brought into the State House and judged to be too small. It was taken outdoors to the State House steps where it remained for the remainder of the season.

Leyden said he had a larger tree picked out last year, but state officials chose the smaller one.

On Monday the new tree was installed, decorated and lit by 5 p.m.

Raimondo told the AP she wasn't sure why the tree had made national headlines.

"If it gives people a smile and a laugh, that's a good thing," she said.

— panderson@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7384

On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_



