Early Monday morning, the sound of chainsaws filled a quiet neighborhood in north Lincoln as state Capitol arborists cut down a nearly 40-foot blue spruce.
Pine needles and trimmed-off branches littered the driveway outside the home of Simon Rezac as a crane lifted the tree into an awaiting trailer, which transported it to be displayed in the Capitol rotunda for the holidays.
“This is our history here ... we have a lot of memories with these blue spruce trees,†said Rachel Rezac, Simon's daughter. “It’s been loved and looked after, and now everyone can appreciate its beauty. … That’s a pretty special legacy.â€
The tree is one of 10 6-inch sprigs planted by Simon Rezac in 1991, when Rachel was still in high school. Eight trees survived, and, after years of storms and development, four remain today.
“It’s our tree,†Rachel said. “After 31 years of tending that tree and taking care of it, watering it and fertilizing it, it’s almost like a kid, part of our family.â€
The blue spruce was getting too big, however. The Rezacs couldn’t see cars on the street from the front window of their home near First and Fairfield streets. Simon Rezac said it posed a safety concern to cyclists on the bike path next to the house and the Rezacs continuously had to trim it.
“We knew we had to get rid of it, but it was a beautiful tree and we would’ve hated to not do something special with it,†he said. “We wanted to be able to do something for the city.â€
In 2019, the family called the Capitol to see if staff was interested, but another tree had already been selected for 2020.
Simon Rezac said his tree was slated for the 2021 ceremony, but when the tradition was canceled amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tree meant for 2020 was pushed to 2021 and the Rezacs' tree to 2022.
“It’ll be exciting Sunday to see the tree finally up and lit and to know that we had a part in it,†he said.
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Boy Scout Troop 56, chartered by North American Martyrs Church, will act as the color guard. Rachel and Simon specifically requested the group because of the family's involvement with the group.
“We’re involving people close to us to get into that Christmas feeling,†Rachel said. “We want to end the year on a positive note and help other people feel that Christmas spirit — that love, that joy. And having our tree in the middle of it just makes it that much more special.â€
She said her late mother, a Christmas baby, always loved the holiday.
“If my mom were still alive, she’d be over the moon that we’re doing this,†Rachel said. “This is a way to honor her and a testament to all our hard work, seeing how beautiful it is up there in the rotunda.â€
After the crane raised the blue spruce over the Capitol wall and into a chute entering the Capitol door, it took more than half a dozen people to lug it through the hallways. In the rotunda, they attached ropes to the top, slowly tilting it onto a stand.
When the tree, cut down from 37 feet to 22 feet in order to avoid hitting a chandelier, stood tall Monday, those in the room erupted in claps and cheers. Together on the balcony, Rachel and Simon said they watched with a feeling of serenity, like the story was coming to a close.
After the holidays, the Rezacs’ tree will live on in the basement of the Capitol, hanging alongside a cutting from every Capitol tree since 1996, labeled with the date and the donating family's name.
“What better place for this tree to go than to be a Christmas tree in the rotunda,†Rachel Rezac said. “It’s a fitting end.â€
A nearly 40-foot blue spruce is hoisted onto a trailer Monday morning before it was transported to the state Capitol, where it will be on display in the rotunda throughout the holiday season.