Ken and Donna Spinney of Central Argyle, Yarmouth County, are this year's donors of Nova Scotia's big Christmas tree gift to Boston.
A 45foot white spruce will be cut at the Spinney property during a public ceremony November 15.
The tree-cutting ceremony will include students from three Yarmouth County elementary schools, a town crier declaration and a storytelling and poetry presentation about the Boston tree. Provincial and municipal government representatives and RCMP, in ceremonial red serge, will attend. The truck will leave after being loaded to board the ferry at Digby. After it crosses the Bay of Fundy, it will continue through New Brunswick and the U.S. to Massachusetts. Elementary students and all Nova Scotians will be able to track the truck's progress online through website updates.
Each year since 1971, Nova Scotia has sent Boston a large Christmas tree in gratitude for help Bostonians provided after the devastating Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917. Boston provided medical personnel and supplies to help treat explosion victims. The Nova Scotia tree is decorated on the Boston Common and lighted at a ceremony attracting about 30,000 people and broadcast live on television. To learn more about the Yarmouth County tree cutting ceremony, visit http://www.gov.ns.ca/ .