Oh, Christmas Tree!

-- Deepa Bharath

Thousands of onlookers gathered at the Bloomingdale Courtyard in

Fashion Island on Friday evening to see the lighting of the nation’s

tallest Christmas tree.

The 115-foot white fir glittered with 17,000 white lights, bows and

red and gold ornaments. It took a six-person crew more than a week to

decorate the 20,000-pound tree.

On Friday, visitors to the shopping center exercised their necks as

they tried to look up -- way up -- to catch a glimpse of the entire tree.

“Makes you wonder how they got it here and put up all those

decorations,” said Eileen Yordy of Chino Hills.

The holiday tree has become a community tradition, said Fashion Island

spokeswoman Nina Robinson. Last year, 10,000 people attended the

tree-lighting ceremony. The shopping center will also host its annual

Menorah-lighting ceremony at 4 p.m. Dec. 21.

The tree-lighting event Friday was themed “A Dickens Holiday

Adventure,” and featured a song and dance performance by students of the

Orange County High School of the Arts.

For the sixth consecutive Christmas, the tree is the nation’s tallest,

towering over Rockefeller Center’s 80-foot spruce and Washington D.C.’s

40-foot National Christmas Tree.

Ed Brown, a shopper who was admiring the large red and green gift

boxes under the tree, said “it’s a good way to draw the community.”

“It’s very festive,” he said. “It’s the symbol of the season.”