After all the pre-illumination criticism, Portland’s tree lighting stuns crowds

Maybe it’s not so bad after all.

After more than a week of ridicule both online and in person, Portland’s imperfect Christmas tree lit up Friday afternoon, delighting the hundreds of people gathered at Monument Square for the annual event.

When the lights came on promptly at 4:30 p.m., the crowd cheered in approval – or relief? – to see the Portland-grown tree come to life. Some participants said they had doubts that the tree, which they said looked thinner than those in previous years, would stand up to history.

“It was 50/50. I wasn’t really sure,” said Julie Lankford of Portland. But “it definitely looks better with the lights.”

Lankford said she hasn’t missed a tree lighting in more than 20 years and even attended the Christmas tree in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the city seemed to make up for the tree’s lack of branches with an abundance of lights.

The tree traveled from Portland’s Deering neighborhood to Monument Square on November 20th. In the days since, it has endured a barrage of negative (and a few positive) comments online, including on the city’s Facebook page, where users have complained that it looked scrawny, thin and a bit lopsided.

The Portland Christmas tree will be in Monument Square in Portland on Wednesday before the tree lighting ceremony on Friday. Some had criticized the city’s choice of trees, saying it looked poor. But on Friday evening, when the lights were lit for the first time, it was all jubilation. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

“Portland, you really dirty the city with that tree,” one user commented on a video of the tree being lifted into place. “We’re the Pine State and this is the best you can do?”

Some people even went so far as to call city hall to complain.

“Is this real or is this a joke?” an unnamed woman said in a voicemail she left with the city and shared with the Press Herald. “That’s awful. It’s a shame.”

Why so sparse?

This year’s tree grew in a narrow space between two residential buildings and both property owners planned to remove it regardless of whether it was selected or not, said city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin. It was also relatively close to Monument Square and accessible to harvest workers.

“Due to the extremely dry conditions, we didn’t have much choice this year,” she said in a statement. “Any of the better trees nominated by residents were too far from Portland, which would have increased transportation and climate costs.”

Grondin said city staff sees this year’s tree as an “opportunity to see the beauty of something that didn’t exist long in this world” and a way to give the old tree one final purpose after years in the community.

Anna Brettler takes a selfie with her father Matt, both from Poland, after the tree lighting at Monument Square on Friday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

Mark Reiland, Portland’s arborist, said “the aesthetic aspect is only a small part of the equation,” noting that the city focused its search on trees that were already slated for removal.

“We’re really trying to build the green infrastructure and build on that in the city,” Reiland said.

He added that the tree’s height – about 40 feet – made it easier to spot, especially during the packed lighting ceremony, and said the sparse branches allowed teams to cover the visible trunk along with the branches with lights wrap around.

Some who filled the space before the tree lighting, including Portland residents Chris Clegg and Erika Petri, said they were optimistic the tree would glow when the lights came on.

They looked up and down the tree around 3 p.m. Friday while the street was still lit and the branches were still dark.

Clegg said the tree looked “a little like Charlie Brown, but it’s still cool.”

The couple said they were pleased to hear the tree was scheduled to be removed even before it was selected by the city.

“I think every tree deserves a chance,” Petri said. “It’s nice that it gets a chance to shine before it goes into the wood chipper, whatever it’s called.”

A HOPE FULFILLED

On Wednesday afternoon, as the sun shone on the still dark tree, a handful of people spoke up.

One woman told her friends the tree looked “like Charlie Brown’s.” She, like several others who joked about it as they crossed the square, refused to give her name.

Matt Hoff, a Pennsylvania resident who moved to Portland with his family over Thanksgiving for 10 years, said he could “see through it.”

“I don’t think it’s as big or as crowded as usual,” Hoff said. “But it’s still nice.”

Minutes before the tree’s lighting, announcers Lori Voornas and Jeff Parsons of radio station WHOM commented on its reputation during the pre-lighting show, which featured members of the Portland Ballet. Maine’s native “American Idol” contestant Julia Gagnon; and the Casco Bay Wind Symphony.

“It’s like a caterpillar turning into a monarch butterfly,” Parsons said. “When it lights up, it will be the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen at Christmas.”

Voornas held a vote by applause to see what the audience thought about the tree. She asked who thought it was a little lackluster; A handful in the crowd clapped.

“Who thinks the tree for the City of Portland tree lighting is the best tree ever?” she asked. The crowd roared with cheers.

Mayor Mark Dion told the crowd he wasn’t sure what to think when he first saw the tree.

“The more I look at it, the more it fascinates me,” Dion said in his remarks. “It makes me happy and homesick at the same time.”

Leana Good-Simpson of Portland took a photo of the newly lit tree just before 5 p.m. and called it “beautiful to me.”

Because the tree is so thin, the viewer can see all the lights from side to side, she said.

“I think it just looks beautiful with the smaller leaves,” Good-Simpson said. “It just looks simple and to me it looks really elegant.”

Staff writer Megan Gray contributed reporting.

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