NEW HAVEN--It's almost holiday season, and that means songs, lights and trees.
Every year for the past decade on the New Haven green stand the "Green Glam," an enormous Christmas tree. Gerard Gray of the New Haven Parks and Recreation helps meticulously put together the lights on the beauty.
This year, the 69-foot evergreen was cut from the Alling Memorial Golf Course. A crane lifts the tree and then works in tandem with a flatbed truck, which comes right beneath it so the tree can be lowered down slowly
The tree arrived a few days ago, and it will take four 40-hour weeks to put together. When it's done, there will be somewhere between 26,000 and 30,000 lights that will come to life.
"Sometimes you say, 'the tree again?!' But you think about the kids, how their face lights up, then you say, 'yeah, it's worth it.' That's what motivates me," says Gray.
The tree can't just be put in a stand like it's done at home. Instead, a six-foot hole is dug in the ground to plant it, and then the crane holds it up.
The "let there be light!" even will take place on Dec. 4, and if you'd like a chance to win the opportunity to flip the switch you should drop off a new toy at City Hall, the police station or the Parks and Recreation Department to be entered into the drawing.