This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree hails from Suffern, New York and weighs in at 9 tons. At the top of the 71 foot Norway Spruce sits a brand new Swarovski crystal star which is no lightweight either at 550 pounds.

New York’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, lit with over 30,000 lights yesterday, came from Connecticut this year. Spotted from a helicopter by the Center manager, the 79-foot tree was planted 50 years ago by Manchester resident Frances Katkauskas and her late husband Adolph on their front lawn. Despite fears that the tree had grown too large and could fall and crush their house, they allowed the Norway spruce to continue to grow and tower over the neighborhood. It was cut down on November 11 and shipped on a barge to Manhattan. Last year’s 76-foot tree grew up in New Jersey and was recycled into toys shaped as zoo animals.