Arts & Entertainment Community Government

City’s Christmas tree needed emergency surgery, stat

Two Gig Harbor Public Works Department employees performed pre-holiday cosmetic surgery at Skansie Park on Wednesday, Nov. 26.

Working together, the two worked to reshape a towering Douglas Fir, which was harvested at and trucked from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, then erected Monday to serve as the city’s official Christmas tree.

City of Gig Harbor employees used a drill to re-attach limbs to the tree at Skansie Park on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Photo by Chapin Day

Jared Garcia handed replacements up to Jacob Huelsnitz who, armed with a power drill and and sturdy black string, artfully secured them to the trunk where nature had failed to provide or where brittle branches had snapped off during transport.

“There were a lot of gaps,” Garcia said.

The tree as it appeared before its emergency surgery. Photo by Vince Dice

Both men wisely ignored a passerby’s remark about their working in a branch office.

Garcia told Gig Harbor Now they hope to begin attaching lights early next week, completing the project in plenty of time for public tree-lighting ceremonies are scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6.

Emergency surgery on the city’s Christmas tree. Photo by Chapin Day