City of Tyler crews measure the 32-foot Christmas tree on Tuesday. (Santana Wood)

Go big or go home was the motto on Tuesday morning as the city rallied to bring a ginormous Christmas tree to Tyler.

City crews were on the ground of an area farm at 9 a.m. hoping to quickly secure the nearly 40-foot tree on a trailer and haul it to the downtown square. Things didn’t go according to plan, said City of Tyler Urban Forester Madeline Burton, but it all worked out as the Eastern Redcedar is now stands tall in its new home as the biggest tree the city has ever had.

“We committed to a larger than life tree this year,” Burton said. “We got to the tree (Tuesday) morning and were going to simply cut it down and bring it over here, but we had an issue.”

At its original height, the tree was too large to transport, so Burton said crews had to find a solution.

“The tree was just way too big. We had to debate for a long time whether or not we had to go find a new tree,” Burton said. “When we finally decided we were going to make this work, we decided to just cut 5 feet off the tree to get rid of some of the mass. … It took a lot of manpower, a lot of rope, twine and straps.”

The tree was originally 37 feet tall and just as wide around, Burton said.

“We had to sacrifice quite a few of the branches,” she said. “But it’s still 32-feet tall, and the biggest tree the city has ever had that we know of.”

Burton called it a “Christmas miracle” to have the tree successfully delivered and put in place.

Last year’s tree was a 20-foot Leyland Cypress. City of Tyler Public Information Officer Adriana Rodriguez said Tyler Mayor Don Warren was one of the main advocates for a large tree.

“The mayor always said, ‘It’s too short.’ This year, we gave him too big,” Rodriguez joked.

Cutting down the tree, trimming it to fit, loading it on the trailer, and hauling it back to Tyler was just the beginning of the nearly six-hour-long process. The work took efforts from the streets, stormwater, parks and rec and urban forestry departments, and more. Plus, Tyler Police Department escorted Artmire’s Urban Forestry as the truck delivered it into town.

Once the tree made its way inside the square around 1 p.m., almost two hours were spent carefully maneuvering and securing the tree to perfect its placement.

The Eastern Redcedar was provided at no cost to the city, thanks to a special donor.

“The tree was donated anonymously in honor of loved ones lost to cancer,” Burton said.

The Eastern Redcedar is a native species, Burton said, and is a conifer.

“It’s pretty indicative of Christmastime,” Burton said, looking up at the tall evergreen.

The trees are scattered throughout East Texas, north and west to Wichita County and south to Colorado County, usually in fencerows, on gravelly ridges, or on dry, rocky hillsides, according to Texas A&M Forest Service. They can grow to be up to 50-feet tall and have a straight, fluted trunk 12 to 24 inches, according to the forest service. Their leaves are usually dark green, minute, and scale-like.

Over the next week ahead, parks crews will decorate the tree just in time for the tree to be lit by the 2023 Miracle Child on Thursday, Dec. 1 during the city’s 37th annual tree lighting ceremony, which will be held at the conclusion of the Rotary Clubs of Tyler Christmas Parade. The child, who has not yet been announced, represents Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. A Miracle Child has lit the city’s Christmas tree each year since 1987.

The parade begins at 6 p.m. and the ceremony will follow.