Taken out of storage, Tree of Lights now ready for setup

OMAHA, Neb.—One by one, workers took the pieces of the giant, iconic LED Tree of Lights out of its warehouse near 25th and Dodge streets and loaded them onto flatbed trucks on Oct. 23.

With help from a police escort, the trucks made their way across town to Associated Bank, where the tree is stationed at the corner of 90th and Dodge streets every holiday season.

“Today, we get it out of the warehouse, do a little check on it, make sure everything's working, and then we will transport it over to the bank in preparation for tomorrow when we actually assemble it and put it up," said Johnny O’Malley, vice president of holiday lights retailer Brite Ideas Decorating.

For Brite Ideas, which designed the 75-foot-tall tree, getting it out of storage and preparing it for assembly the next day is special.

"This means a lot because it is the symbol of the Tree of Lights campaign for The Salvation Army, which is its biggest fundraiser of the year,” O’Malley said. “So, it's a very good reminder to the community to support The Salvation Army throughout this holiday season."

The tree will light up on Nov. 5 as part of the annual Tree of Lights Family Festival, a special event which signals the beginning of the Tree of Lights Campaign.  Donations go toward The Salvation Army of Omaha’s many programs, including food, housing, behavioral health, and more.

"My hope for the coming weeks for this tree is that it engages the community to really rally around this event and make sure we have a very successful charity event for The Salvation Army to put them in a good spot for the upcoming year to help out everybody in need," said O'Malley.