DANVERS — Dorothy "Dottie" Bell of Carolyn Drive pulled off a "tree-peat" of sorts yesterday when she donated the Christmas tree decking Danvers Square for the second year in a row.
"I don't have any more," said Bell yesterday morning around 9 a.m., just after a large yellow crane plucked the 30-foot blue spruce from her backyard and loaded it sideways on a flatbed trailer. "No more blue spruce or Christmas trees."
"It's so exciting," said Bell's great niece-in-law, Shannon Harvey. "Not many people get to donate two trees, and they are beautiful trees," said Harvey, who brought along her sons Christian, 5, and Connor, 20 months, to watch. Last year, Christian, Bell's great-great-nephew, helped Santa pull the switch to light the tree in Danvers Square, Harvey said.
Across the street, Joanne Maynard and her son, Travis, 21รขÑ2, watched as the nearly 30-year-old tree soared briefly through the neighborhood.
"We saw the whole thing last year," said Maynard, who lives at 8 Carolyn Drive. "He likes the trucks more than anything," Maynard said about her son's interest in the proceedings.
Before the tree began its less-than-a-mile journey from 9 Carolyn Drive to Danvers Square, Forestry Division equipment operator Artie Balser and Tree Climber David Ambrose stationed themselves on the trunk, armed with the poles they would use to lift wires as the tree made its way down Hobart Street.
By 11 a.m., the tree stood in Danvers Square, ready to be strung with lights.
Last year, after a crew removed the Colorado spruce in her front yard, Bell had an inkling the town might be back for the second spruce in her backyard. Her property backs up to the Department of Public Works yard on Hobart Street.
Three decades ago, the trees lived briefly in Bell's house one Christmas season before they were planted.
Last year, Bell was so excited about donating the tree to the town, she followed it in a car as it made its way to Danvers Square.
This year, Bell is on leave from her job as a Great Oak School crossing guard because of lung cancer, and she decided to skip the procession.
"I'm going to miss it in a way," said Bell, a retired 38-year employee who worked in customer service for Peabody Electric Light.
Bell also has another way to look at her donation.
"It opens up my yard," she said.
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