A Miracle in the Milling

For the third year in a row, the world’s most famous Christmas tree will become a permanent part of a Habitat for Humanity home.

The 77th Rockefeller Center Christmas tree—a 76-foot, 9-ton spruce beauty from Easton, Connecticut—was broken down on Thursday, January 7, its branches removed and carted off to make wood chips for nature trails. The mammoth trunk was cut into planks that will be used in construction of a Habitat for Humanity eight-unit condominium building on West Main Street in Stamford, Connecticut.

“This home is a miracle in the making,” said future homeowner Iveth Bowie, an inventory clerk and Bible school teacher.

The single mother of four—three children, ages 20, 19 and 7, and a 4-year-old grandson—took youngest daughter, Sarah, to watch the tree being milled in Manhattan.

The post-holiday milling continues a three-year tradition between Habitat and Rockefeller Center landlord Tishman Speyer. The company donated the 2007 tree to help build a Habitat house on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the 2008 tree was used in a multi-family condominium complex in Brooklyn, New York.

Bowie and her family have lived in an overpriced, one-bedroom apartment for years. In partnership with Habitat for Humanity for Coastal Fairfield County, she was able to save enough money for a down-payment on a safe, secure, affordable home.

And the family of five has grown exponentially. “Habitat for Humanity has become a part of my family,” she told the Connecticut Post newspaper.