Real-Time + Headline News: Another Tree Rises On Merry Main Street

Like some good things that arrive in boxes at this Holiday Time of the year, a new replacement for the tree taken down by arson arrived in the block on N MacDonald just north of Main Street to fill the empty space left in the hearts of those wishing to celebrate the third year of Merry Main Street around a Christmas tree.
It may be an artificial tree, all pre-wired with lots of branches to get fluffed and colorful balls to get hung-by-hand with care, but  with two hydraulic lifts, up it went 40 feet on a sunny day.

Your MesaZona blogger just happened to be walking west on Main Street to do some local shopping when what to his wondering eyes should appear but this  > 
Almost looked like a real tree from a distance dropping into place like the ones yours truly used to see in New York City at Rockefeller Center on Fifth Avenue right after Thanksgiving. Shaking my head from visions of holidays past, this isn't Fifth Avenue by any stretch of the wildest imagination and it sure ain't Rockefeller Center . . . get real. So what's going on?

It's a short story that unfolded while sitting down on a bench inside a tent to chat with Sally Jo Harrison, the President of The Mesa Chamber of Commerce, just to the left of this beehive of chain-activity by lots of volunteers and city employees and equipment that put all this back together piece-by-piece to restore the Spirit of The Holidays that had gone missing in a sense-less act of arson.

More frequently than not, Ms. Harrison and your MesaZona blogger don't see eye-to-eye on quite a few things but this day was different under the circumstances when I spotted her in a tent in everyday attire part of a production line to put all the 100's of pieces together to erect a 40-foot tree on-the-spot and it was taking hours. The Mesa Chamber of Commerce had sent out an email earlier about plans to raise funds for the new tree; when asked if all the funds had been raised she simply and assertively stated "We will . . . "
(The image to the right is Sally Jo Harrison, cropped and enlarged from an wide angle zoom before we chatted)

Here's an image from the City of Mesa Newsroom that accompanied their press release - what the tree looked like on-site after all the physical human help and multiple hydraulic lifts. The City of Mesa announced on December 18th that through the continued, ongoing fundraising efforts of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, a new Merry Main Street Christmastree was installed yesterday to replace the tree destroyed by an arson fire last week. Donations for the replacement began coming in almost immediately as soon as the word got out about the arson fire and the giving page was set up on the Chamber's website.

Link to press release from city newsroom
http://www.mesanow.org

Here's what it looks in all its glory at night adding to the attractions of the downtown streetscape >

 "We received donations from all over the country including Washington, Utah, Virginia and many other states." Mesa Chamber President/CEO Sally Harrison said.
"We appreciate all the businesses that have stepped up to date as well as many of our community members to help replace the tree. We are still a few thousand dollars shy of our goal so we encourage those still interested to go to our website to give." 

For information about The Mesa of Commerce and more details on giving for the new tree, please go to:
http://www.mesachamber.org/

On Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mesachamber
6:57 AM - 19 Dec 2017
So- it's been members, and people locally and around the country that have contributed in small amounts, and large amounts- we still need your help, be apart of the story at http://mesachamber.org : https://mynewsmesa.com/new-merry-main-street-christmas-tree-erected-today-downtown-mesa/ … #MyMesaChamber #MesaHoliday #SavetheTree

On Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Mesa.Chamber.of.Commerce