With efficient LEDs, Common Christmas tree goes green

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/file)

The 46-foot white spruce from Nova Scotia arrived on Boston Common on Nov. 21.

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

When the switch is thrown tonight to illuminate a 46-foot white spruce on Boston Common, there will be a subtle, green wrinkle in a Christmas tradition that dates to 1940.

The towering tree will be illuminated by the twinkle of 8,000 light-emitting diodes, casting Santa Claus and Mayor Thomas M. Menino in an energy-efficient glow. The LEDs are part of a pilot program that will cover roughly 20 percent of the decorations on the Common and Public Garden, with the Parkman Bandstand and Frog Pond also decked in ecologically friendly dots of light.

"It probably will look a little bit different, but I don't think most people will be able to tell," said Mary Hines, a spokeswoman for the Parks Department. "I don't think its going to be anything like, 'Wow did you see that.'"

Last December, the Globe wrote about a similar switch to LEDs in Concord that left some disappointed and longing for the warm, yellow glow of incandescent lights of Christmas past. The diodes cast Concord's tree in what was described as an icy, bluish hue.

As Santa and Menino throw the switch tonight on Boston Common, the moment will be punctuated by a small fireworks display that Hines said will give the tree "a little extra bounce."

"I think people will be happy," Hines said.

After the holidays, city officials will examine electricity usage to determine how much energy the LEDs saved.

The tree lighting festivities near Tremont Street begin at 6 p.m. and will include The Garrett Mason Band, a blues ensemble from Nova Scotia. This is the 37th year that Nova Scotia has donated a towering evergreen to serve as Boston's official Christmas tree. The gift is a show gratitude to the people of Boston for help after an explosion in Halifax in 1917 that killed more than 1,700 people.

This year's 46-foot white spruce came from the property of Craig and Marina Cook, who live in Clementsvale, just outside Digby.

"We feel honored to have a tree chosen from our property to be sent to Boson this year," Craig Cook said in a statement released by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. "It's a privilege for us to be able to say thank you for the help they provided during the Halifax explosion."

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