A tree planted 20 years ago on Stetson Road now towers over Courthouse Plaza in Lewiston.

A Public Works crew cut down the 30-foot blue spruce in Jeannine Bergeron’s front yard at about 8:15 a.m. Friday, loaded it onto a truck and began the three-mile trek downtown. Once there, they set up the tree in Lisbon Street’s Courthouse Plaza, where it will remain until the holidays.

It’s the city’s official Christmas tree.

Parks and Recreation crews will begin decorating the tree next week, according to city arborist Steve Murch. They’ll have it ready in time for the Twin Cities’ Holiday Celebration, the Parade of Lights and the official tree lighting ceremony on Nov. 26.

“My grandkids are going to love coming up to see this,” Bergeron said. “It’s so big and so beautiful.”

She donated the tree because it had grown too tall for her yard. “It did make it hard to mow around,” she said. “It wasn’t bothering anything, but it was very big and I didn’t know what I was going to be able to do with it.”

She and her husband planted the tree 20 years ago. It was a gift from friends in Auburn. “I think my husband originally planned to trim it down a little each year, but it just got out of control,” she said. “I started talking to my landscaper and he suggested offering it to the city for their Christmas tree.”

City officials chose her tree over several other offers.

After cutting it down Friday morning, crews had to get the tree out of Bergeron’s yard and move it to Courthouse Plaza. They began by securing the tree to a crane, then hoisting it onto a waiting City of Lewiston equipment trailer.

About 90 minutes later, crews began moving the tree, covered with a purple tarp and fastened tightly to the trailer, down College Street.

The behemoth load forced police to stop traffic along the way. The tree slowly wound its way onto Sabattus Street, then onto Main Street. Police stopped traffic on Lisbon Street and took the tree to Courthouse Plaza, going the wrong way on the one-way street.

They had it up and had started securing it in place by 11:30 a.m.

They agreed to come back in the spring and remove the stump from Bergeron’s front yard.