Family donates Yule tree for city display

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

The lighting of Naperville’s Christmas tree at city hall will take on special meaning for the Solloway family this year following their decision to donate a 40-foot blue spruce from their front yard to brighten the holiday season.

An eight-member crew from Naperville’s Department of Public Works descended on the Solloway home on River Oak Drive early Tuesday afternoon to harvest the tree. The cut elicited both a sense of delight and a slight twinge of sadness for parents Dawna and Don Solloway and their two sons, Peter, 3, and Joseph, 1.

“We love this tree,” said Dawna. “It’s really beautiful.”

Dawna explained that they have lived at their home for four years, and although they enjoyed the large pine tree in their front yard, it was close to the house and starting to encroach on their front porch. Her husband, Don, contacted the city in the spring to see if they might be interested in the tree as a donation.

After checking out the tree, Jack Mitz with the Naperville Department of Public Works, Forestry Division, said the city would be happy to take the tree for its official Christmas tree, to be placed in the fountain pool in front of city hall at 400 S. Eagle St.

The Solloways thought the donation would provide a special memory for their two young sons to watch the tree being taken out of their yard and then see it illuminated as Naperville’s official Christmas tree. According to Mitz, it will take 100 amps of electricity to light the large tree.

“We’re honored. It’s kind of special,” said Dawna, a part-time cardiac nurse with Midwest Heart Specialists.

“We were happy to do it,” added Don, who took time off work from his position as deductions coordinator with Armour-Eckrich Meats in Lisle to witness the tree harvesting.

City crews came out at 7:30 Tuesday morning to remove the lower boughs in preparation for the main event just after lunchtime. At 12:30 p.m., the quiet cul-de-sac was suddenly filled with eight city trucks and eight Department of Public Works crew members, outfitted in hard hats, ear protectors and fluorescent shirts and safety vests.

Although Joseph, who just turned 1 on Saturday, is likely too young to retain a memory of the unusual event in his front yard, 3-year-old Peter was awestruck.

A crane from the city’s electric department first lowered a large hook into the middle of a tree before another crew member in a cherry picker was lifted into the center of the tree to secure the hook. After a quick cut with a chain saw, crews lifted the large tree high into the air to position it on a flatbed trailer truck.

Typical for boys his age, Peter is fascinated by trucks and heavy construction equipment, and “Bob the Builder” books are some of his favorites, said Dawna. “They got the whole tree!” Peter exclaimed as the large pine dangled in mid-air.

With a complicated system of chains, straps and ropes, the tree was gently lowered onto the flatbed trailer, so as not to damage any branches, before heading off to city hall, where it was positioned at city hall later in the day.

The entire harvesting process took a little under an hour. Decorating of the tree with small colored lights will take place over the next few days, and the tree will be illuminated following Thanksgiving, on the evening of Nov. 26, in conjunction with the Hometown Holidays Electric Lights Parade and Grand Illumination of downtown Naperville. The parade, which kicks off from Centennial Beach at 4:30 p.m. and winds through downtown, marks the beginning of a month of special holiday shopping and dining events sponsored by the Downtown Naperville Alliance, a division of the Naperville Chamber of Commerce, said Katie Wood, director of Downtown Naperville Alliance.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will arrive in downtown Naperville by parade float. At the conclusion of the parade, Santa will come to the stage at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Webster Street, where he will flip a switch at 5:45 p.m. for the Grand Illumination, simultaneously brightening downtown Naperville with 300,000 white lights along with the Christmas tree at city hall.

The Solloway family will be on hand for what is certain to be a long-lasting family memory. “We thought it would be really neat for the boys,” said Dawna.

“We hope the tree brings many happy wishes of Christmas,” she added. “We hope that it warms people’s hearts and brightens their holiday season.”