The Rochester Department of Public Works has selected the 2024 Christmas tree for the Downtown Holiday display. This year’s tree will be donated by the Williams family from 273 Chestnut Hill Road. Lynn Torr Williams shared that the property has been in the Torr family since the 1800s. In the 1960s, Mr. Franklin Torr sold the property to the Byron family. During their ownership, Mr. and Mrs. Byron planted the blue spruce tree. The property changed hands a few times before the Torr family had the opportunity to repurchase it.
The Williams and Torr families are pleased to donate this tree to the City of Rochester for the community to enjoy this holiday season. Ms. Williams expressed that her family wishes to donate the tree in memory of Ralph and Pauline Torr.
The Department of Public Works (DPW) thanks the Williams-Torr family for their generous donation and looks forward to featuring it in the Downtown Holiday display. The Williams-Torr tree is a beautiful spruce, standing approximately 35 feet tall.
On November 13, Save a Tree Company of Rochester volunteered their staff to transport the tree to the downtown area. This year, Save a Tree was represented by Ryan Bardzik, AJ McKee, Quintyn Gregg, John Morton, and Clayton Norton. They assisted the DPW with removing the tree from the Chestnut Hill Road property and helped set it up on Christmas Tree Island downtown. The DPW staff involved in transporting and positioning the tree were Paul Michaud, Joe Sanborn, Rick Wentworth, Josh Roseberry, and Kevin Chandler.
Throughout November, the DPW team will work to complete the downtown lights and decorations in time for the holiday season. The festivities will kick off with the Christmas Tree Lighting event on December 6, followed by the Holiday Parade on December 8, 2024.
This year’s decorations were made by students from the Monarch School and Rochester Elementary School. Monarch School students will also assist the DPW staff in trimming the tree during the week of November 18.
The DPW appreciates the collaborative efforts of everyone involved and is proud to uphold these annual traditions.
