How does a tree go from a backyard in Mahopac, NY, to center stage at Rockefeller Center?
Holidash talks to the man who found this year’s Christmas tree. There’s always pressure to find the perfect Christmas tree. Imagine if you had to pick one of the most famous trees — the Rockefeller Center Tree. Erik Pauze, part of the landscaping team at Rockefeller Center, says it’s a year-round job. “I’m always on the lookout for the tree,” he told Holidash. “In fact, on my way up to Mahopac yesterday, I spotted a good candidate for next year. I stopped, took some photos and it’s in the file.” Mahopac is the small town about 50 miles from Manhattan where, on Sept. 11, Pauze spotted an impressive Norway spruce in the yard of Peter and Stephanie Acton. “I had a good feeling as soon as I saw it,” he says. Stephanie told reporters she thought it was a joke when Pauze knocked on her door and told her the 74-foot tree in her back yard might be a contender for the spot in the plaza. “We look at a couple hundred trees every year, but when I walked around this one, I just knew it was the one
