BELFAST - The city will be lighting a different tree this year to kick off the holiday season. In past years, crowds gathered a the towering pine outside City Hall. There was hot cocoa and carols. Santa arrived by fire truck, and oversaw the illumination of hundreds of white lights spun around a tree topped in glowing star.

That tree was damaged in the Nov. 2 storm that did a number on trees around the Midcoast, and through the tree weathered the storm mostly intact, city officials decided to err on the side of safety and bring in a substitute. 

A plan came together almost magically on Monday as broad tree was erected on the sidewalk in front of the Post Office, held upright by a handful of construction materials and what appeared to be a heaping dose of Yankee ingenuity.

“What do you think?” said City City Councilor Mike Hurley, who was making adjustments to the rig as the sun set.

Some passers by raised their eyebrows in the way one does around things that are funky and ambitious.

The tree stand could have been something from the outspoken councilor’s imagination. But he was quick to point out the long list of players that made it happen.

The center of the stand, fashioned from a segment of culvert shot through with large bolts, was made by the city’s Public Works Department. A smaller cuff of the same material higher on the trunk held it steady via steel cables to a pair of concrete barriers purchased from State Sand and Gravel. Viking Lumber had transported the tree, which was cut from an area of city land near the dog park. The operation was organized and overseen by the city’s Main Street group, Our Town Belfast.

The tree lighting will be held at the new tree in Post Office Square on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 4:15 p.m.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com