Tree from Maine heads for ground zero in N.Y.

OXFORD – A 14-foot fir from Oxford is headed to New York to be the Christmas tree for rescue workers at the site of the former World Trade Center.

“It is a beautiful tree,” New York City Police Detective John Heidrich said Saturday before his uncle Ted Heidrich, a state representative and Christmas tree farmer, cut through the trunk in preparation for the balsam fir’s trip south.

John Heidrich, who works for the 113th Precinct in Jamaica-Queens, said the tree will be standing on site by Monday afternoon. The lighting of the tree is expected to be later in the week.

The Heidrichs agreed that the tree should be decorated in plain white lights. “We want it more as a memorial tree, not a festive tree, just to respect those that were there,” Ted Heidrich said.

John Heidrich said work at ground zero has been going nonstop as crews have worked through Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and will be working on Christmas Day. “I hope the tree does something for the families that lost people down there,” he said.

Cyndy Turner, store manager for the Wal-Mart in Oxford, presented the Heidrichs with sets of Christmas tree lights that, when strung together, will cover 3,000 feet. The sets contain 9,000 bulbs.

“This was my biggest concern,” John Heidrich said. “The tree was no problem. We know people. But we didn’t know anybody with lights.”