Since 1987, the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport has placed a very large tree in the Mansion Courtyard and decorated it for the holidays. Every year they’ve invited the community to join them on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to light the tree and inaugurate the holiday season. It’s a very popular, free community event that draws several hundred people every year.
For many years, the museum was able to harvest large pines and spruces from the wooded areas of the 43-acre Vanderbilt estate. This fall, the Vanderbilt is looking for a local family that can donate one of its own trees for this year’s celebration. It must be local, from family property and from 20 to 25 feet high. Vanderbilt staff will cut down the tree and transport it to the museum on or about Nov. 20.
The Vanderbilt will acknowledge the gift with a sign next to the tree and will publicize the donation to the media, along with other museum holiday events and programs. Contact Jim Munson, the Vanderbilt Museum’s operations supervisor at [email protected] for more info.
