Kitchener kicks off festive season, puts up two Christmas trees

The City of Kitchener’s annual Christmas trees have been installed in two locations.

The Gaukel Block got its tree on Tuesday and the city put up a second tree at Carl Zehr Square in front of city hall on Wednesday.

Every year the city receives the trees from homeowners who call to reported an unwanted tree on their property. Some of those trees are rehomed for the Christmas season.

The tree that stands in front of city hall used to grow tall in front of Bonnie Bennett’s home in the city’s west end.

“It started overgrowing right into the porch, so it was time for it to go,” said Bennett. “It was really sad to see a great big live tree [go]. I didn't want to cut it down, so I called the city a while back and they said in November [they] picked trees for Christmas.”