Christmas is in the air as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has arrived.

This almost 100-year-old tradition began while the building was being constructed in 1931,  as Italian laborers pooled their money to buy a tree.   The balsam fir stood roughly 20 ft tall and was decorated with handmade paper garland made by the workers’ families with strings of cranberries.

The first formal Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting was in 1933, eight months after the opening of 30 Rock, then known as the RCA building.

The skating rink was opened below the tree in the plaza in 1936.

Erik Pauze, is the head gardener for over three decades for Rockefeller Center and veritable Santa Claus of Christmas trees.

Spending the night in the Berkshires in search of  future Christmas trees,  a towering beauty called Pauze’s eye  while driving through West Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 2020.

The Norway spruce was planted by Earl and Leslie Albert back in 1967, when the pair were newlyweds.

The family decorated it with Christmas lights every year for the holidays,  until the tree just got too big and 57 years later it grew to a towering 74 ft tall giant.

Three days after Leslie Albert died,  like an angel,  Pauze arrived at the their door about the tree.

Earl said his late wife adored the holidays and would be “thrilled with what’s become of the tree and it’s probably one of the greatest honors of my life”.

Spectators and family gathered in the Albert’s lawn as workers carefully sawed through the massive tree, lifted it by a crane and placed on a flatbed truck.

Just days after the tree was cut down, Albert suffered a stroke.   The family is hopeful that he will be able to attend the tree lighting ceremony.

In a typical holiday season,  organizers estimate 750,000 people come by per day to visit the tree.

The tree was lit on national TV for the first time in 1951 on the Kate Smith Show.

There are over 50,000 multicolor LED lights on the tree, connected by approximately 5 miles worth of wire.

The 74 ft tall tree is 43 ft in diameter and weighs 11 tons.

The 900 pound Swarovski Crystal star features 70 spikes and is covered in three million crystals with the diameter stretching over 9 feet.

The lights on the tree are lit daily from 5:00 a.m. to midnight,  except for Christmas when it’s lit for 24 hours.

The tree lighting ceremony will take place on Wednesday,  December 4th at 7:00 p.m. EST on NBC.

“You’ll never forget the sound, the flip of the switch and the roar of the crowd. You’ll get chills and just the emotion, it’s overwhelming”.

This sense of awe,  excitement and nostalgia evokes the feeling of happiness and sentimental emotions every year.

Walking up 5th Avenue , an estimated 125 million people visit the attraction each year.