Waterbury's Christmas Tree

Remembering Christmas Trees of Years Past

A patron stopped by yesterday with an interesting question: when did Waterbury first have a community Christmas tree on The Green or elsewhere?  Searching the newspaper archive on microfilm, I found an article that explained how the spruce tree planted on The Green in 1983 died and was removed about a year later.  Yaffe, D. (1985, August 14). City's Christmas tree gone from The Green. Waterbury Republican, p. 1.  This year, the Christmas tree display is much different from past years.  Because of the ongoing renovation of The Green, the Parks Department set up several trees for a holiday light display in Library Park.  What do you think of this year's Tree, or should I say trees?  Can anyone help me out with the patron's question about the first time Waterbury had a Christmas Tree display?  Photographs of this year's holiday display would be very welcome.