Sitting on a lawn chair outside her two-flat in La Grange, 92-year-old Veronika Matuzas watched as a 30-foot-tall blue spruce she planted in the early 1980s was sawed down in her yard.
She wasn’t sad to see the tree come down because it is going to another, greater use. It will be the village’s holiday tree and Matuzas expects it will bring happiness to others who will delight in seeing it festooned with ornaments and lights.
With chains saws buzzing and wood chips flying on a misty morning, a work crew cut the tree near its base, loaded it on to a trailer and carted to Harrison Avenue and La Grange Road, where it will stand in front of the Village Hall.
“It’s nice. It’s going to look nice,” said Matuzas, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1949 from Lithuania.
She worked in a paper factory for 34 years and moved from Chicago to Arlington Avenue in La Grange in the early 1980s to be near her daughter, Sabina Dambrauskas, who lives down the street. The blue spruce had grown to a towering height and was too close to her house. She contacted the village to see if they would like to have it for the holiday tree.
Before he deemed the tree would have the honor of being the village’s holiday tree, Mike Bojovic, director of public works, inspected it. He found it had several features that would make it an ideal holiday tree.
“It’s straight, tall and full,” he said. “It’s symmetrical too.”
Besides finding a tree that was straight and tall, Bojovic needed to find one that could be easily removed.
“I had to make sure it was accessible,” he said. “It couldn’t be in the way of any power lines.”
The village will decorate the tree and will hold a tree lighting ceremony Saturday, Dec. 3 during Hometown Holidays, an event that kicks off the holiday season and which also will feature strolling carolers, trolley rides, a petting zoo, pony rides, kiddie train and ice sculptures.
“I think it will feel good to see the holiday decorations and lights on it,” Dambrauskas said.
“Imagine, I bought it for 98 cents,” added Matuzas.
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Hometown Holidays
Time: 5 to 9 p.m.
Date: Dec. 3
Place: Central Business District and West End
Activities: Merchant open houses, carolers, trolley rides, petting zoo, kiddie train and ice sculptures
Tree lighting: at 53 S. La Grange Road.