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Nov. 29 (UPI) -- The iconic Christmas tree in New York City's Rockefeller Center glittered to life Wednesday night as the switch was thrown on 50,000 LED holiday lights during a ceremony that featured cold weather, hot chocolate and Hollywood stars. Weeks ago, the 80 foot tall Norway Spruce was growing in the front yard of Matt and Jackie McGinley's upstate New York home where it overshadowed their modest house in the town of Vestal, N.Y.
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The McGinleys donated their tree to Rockefeller Center in the spirit of the holidays, TODAY.com reported.
"I'm a sap for Christmans," Jackie McGinley said a few hours before the lights on the tree were illuminated to the satisfaction of chilly onlookers. Temps were in the low 30s.
Erik Pauze called the tree "a specimen." Pauze has been Rockefeller Center's head gardener since 1995, and is responsible for sourcing what becomes America's most famous tree in a matter of minutes, and getting it safely and undamaged, to New York City.
Pauze searches the entire Northeast in search of the perfect tree for the plaza, which he has described as akin to perusing "a massive tree lot."
This year, McGinley's tree, estimated to be between 80 and 85 years old, and weighing 12 tons, was the needle in the haystack and traveled 200 miles by truck for its coming out party at 30 Rock in the heart of the Big Apple.
Pauze said the tree must meet strict size and shape criteria. It needs to be at least 70 feet tall and between 40 and 42 feet wide. The 2023 tree is 80 feet tall. This is no Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
"I look for that big, beautiful shape, nice and green, nice and full, a tree that you would want in your living room for Christmas," Pauze said last year. That is, if it weren't 80 feet tall and 42 feet wide.
In addition to being big and beautiful, America's tree must also be robust in order to withstand the weight of the lights, cables, 5 miles of wire and, of course, the 900-pound, 3D Swarovski star nestled securely among the needles at the top, featuring 71 spikes and 30 million crystals, designed by famed architect Daniel Libeskind.
The lighting ceremony, hosted by former American Idol winner-turned pop star Kelly Clarkson, also featured a number of other stars. Barry Manilow, 80, and Cher, 77, both sensations from the 1970s, performed. And, there was the latest rendition of the world famous Radio City Rockettes, who made the short jaunt over from Times Square, as well as a performance by actress and singer Keke Palmer.
This is the 91st annual Rockefeller tree lighting ceremony, but it has come a long way from its original roots.
In December 1931, workers at Rockefeller Center pooled their money to buy a Christmas tree ... a 20 foot tall balsam fir.
This season's tree will be lit daily from 5 a.m. until midnight, with the exception of Christmas Day, when it will remain illuminated for 24 hours, and New Year's Eve, when it will be on from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m.
