Timber! Take two.
A second Douglas County pine, this one standing 70 feet tall, will be cut Tuesday morning. Then, it will head to the mall.
The Georgia White Pine will be the Macy's Great Tree and is expected to be hoisted Tuesday afternoon atop the store at Lenox Square. Although not the first choice for one of the Southeast's most famous Christmas trees, the tree in Rachel Deal's yard has been preparing for its debut for 50 years.
And since the original tree selected snapped before it could be lifted Sunday morning, Deal's tree was selected for the starring role. It will be decorated in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, when it will be lit in the evening, signifying the beginning of the holiday season in Atlanta.
Deal watched as the tree's limbs were wrapped Monday afternoon, thrilled with the news that the tree was selected.
"I was just screaming," Deal told Channel 2 Action News. "I was jumping up and down."
Deal's father planted the tree as a seedling when she was a young girl, bringing it from the family's cabin at Lake Burton in the North Georgia mountains to the current home in Lithia Springs.
"I have always said this would be the perfect Macy's tree," Deal said.
This year will be the 64th year for the Great Tree, which has changed names and even locations over the years.
Monica Pearson and David Chandley of Channel 2 Action News will co-anchor the ceremony on TV from 7 to 8 p.m. A pre-show concert begins at 6:15 p.m.
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