Trees going up around the district

The tree gets its final touches. PHOTOS: ARROW KOEHLER
The tree gets its final touches. PHOTOS: ARROW KOEHLER
Contractors place the top piece of Oamaru’s 10m Christmas tree.
Contractors place the top piece of Oamaru’s 10m Christmas tree.
A big tree representative of the jolliest time of the year has been erected in the centre of town.

Oamaru, Palmerston and Kurow’s Christmas trees went up earlier this week.

It started in Kurow on Monday, where the permanent cut-out of Ritchie McCaw watched over the tree’s assembly.

Oamaru’s tree was constructed on Tuesday, when about 20 contractors pieced together the structure in a sort of reverse-lumberjack scenario.

Palmerston joined the festivities on Wednesday with its tree.

Kurow and Palmerston’s trees measure 4.5m tall, dwarfed by Oamaru’s 10m artificial conifer.

Tonight Oamaru will hold a ‘light up the tree’ event to mark the 25 day countdown.

The trees were bought by the Waitaki District Council in 2020 for $57,000 and have been annually erected since.

Before the artificial trees, a real tree was sourced and decorated.