NEW YORK — New York City ushered in the holiday season Saturday with the arrival of a 79-foot (24-meter) Norway spruce that will serve as one of the world's most famous Christmas trees, in Rockefeller Center.
The 12-ton tree was trucked in from the Price family home in Elkton, Maryland - the first time the tree has come from that state since the tradition began eight decades ago.
![Rockefeller Center Tree](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3bb74d6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1280x853!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F67%2F15%2F8c9c77b34fc9b9cc93a57163b672%2Fap21317611950960.jpg)
The lighting ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 1.
The spruce will be adorned with more than 50,000 multicolored lights and topped with a 900-pound (400-kilogram) star with 70 spikes covered in 3 million crystals.
The tree was cut down Thursday and removed by a crane on the Price property.
The spruce, about 85 years old, had stood near the family's house.
![Rockefeller Center Tree](https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bb76fe9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6000x4000+0+0/resize/1280x853!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fewscripps-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F11%2F7f%2Fb08d1e474dca982d80fbcb3374b0%2Fap21317611917858.jpg)
Devon and Julie Price told NBC's “Today” that they had worried about it falling down during a storm.
“So we're very excited to have it go to New York City,” Devon Price said.
Erik Pauze, Rockefeller Center's chief gardener, found this year's tree in March after going to a nursery to buy plants in southern New Jersey and deciding to take a drive in the area, he told The Baltimore Sun.
The tree is expected to remain up through early January.