Find out how this giant Christmas tree provides KC more than holiday glitz
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas says he watched people smile and pull out their phones to take photos while the truck he was riding in rolled down Grand Boulevard Thursday morning.
No, he wasn’t riding in one of the city’s street department trucks on its way to fill potholes. Folks had another reason to smile. Lucas was riding along in the big rig that had come all the way from Oregon hauling the Mayor’s Christmas Tree to Crown Center.
The mayor and the 100-foot-tall tree arrived at Crown Center Square around 9 a.m. Workers quickly used a crane to remove the giant Douglas fir from the flat bed trailer that was used to transport it halfway across the country.
The tree serves as a bit of a Kansas City ambassador on it’s journey with the signs on the tarp protecting it that let everyone know this fir is going to Kansas City. The big tree was donated by Cascade Timber Consulting in Sweet Home, Oregon.
On it’s side for the 2,000-mile journey, the tree has to be lifted off the trailer by crane and then the three week-long process of setting it up begins.
A work crew starts by standing it up and securing it. To transport the tree on it’s side, several of the lower branches of the conical conifer are removed but make the trip with the aromatic giant. Workers will attach the branches and then decorate the tree with ornaments and lights.
This is the 53rd year of Crown Center hosting the tree. Crown Center is the corporate home of Kansas City’s Hallmark company which plays a big part in how the display gives something back to the community.
Wood from last year’s mayor’s tree is used to make a special Hallmark Christmas ornament. Proceeds from the sale of those ornaments benefit the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund which assists thousands of Kansas City people in need during the holiday season. Crown Center donated more than $50,000 to the fund in July from last year’s sales.
This year’s ornament is called “Sweet Snowman” and will go on sale on November 28 after the tree is lit during a special ceremony starting at 6 p.m. The ornaments will be available for purchase at Crown Center Customer Service or the Hallmark Visitors Center.
The tree will also be at the center of the Hallmark Christmas Experience, a multi-weekend celebration of the holiday which features Christmas displays, food, products and entertainment put together by the company that has had a major presence in American’s holiday celebrations.
The event runs every weekend from November 28 to December 21. This is the second year Hallmark has hosted the celebration.
This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 8:18 PM.