Thanksgiving may still be a week away, but the City of Portland got an early Christmas gift Thursday from a Westbrook family, in the form of a 40-foot balsam fir tree installed in Monument Square for the 2022 holiday season.

At about 10 a.m., traffic was stopped in both directions on Congress Street while a flatbed truck crept up to the square, where a crane waited to lift the 3,000-pound tree into position.

A crowd of at least 50 people had gathered to watch, including Winnie Reid, of South Portland who was in the city Thursday morning celebrating her 5th birthday.

“This was happenstance that we came here,” said her mother, Abby Reid, 30.

As crews worked with the tree, Winnie stood in a pink hooded parka watching with rapt attention, saying, “It’s so big!” When asked if a tree that size could fit in their living room, she said, “I don’t think so!”

Other attendees pulled out their phones to take pictures and video, including Sara Rosenblatt, 39, who lives in Portland on State Street. As she recorded, she noted the smiles on everyone’s faces as they watched.

“It’s so positive out here right now,” she said. “The weather, the colors, and that smell from the tree is so awesome! It’s like serious aromatherapy, right?”

Another Portland resident, Lenora Leibowitz, who when asked her age said “over 65,” said she had lived in the city for years, and always admired the square’s holiday trees, but never saw it being put up before today.

“I just happened to be at the right place at the right time,” she said.

After securing the top of the tree to a crane, crews hoisted it from the flatbed and carried it over to the square, where the trunk was set into a manhole in the square that serves as a tree stand.

“That was custom-made just for the tree,” said Jeff Tarling, the city’s arborist.

Tarling has been supervising the annual tree collection and installation for the past 33 years. Each year, the tree is brought in with virtually no cost to the city at all. The trucks, crane and other heavy equipment are donated by Gorham-based Shaw Brothers Construction and South Portland-based Keeley Crane Service, Tarling said.

As for the tree, that’s donated every year by private residents. Tarling said the city puts out an annual call for submissions, and this year, from about a dozen applicants, the city chose to take the tree from the Nappi family on Methodist Road in Westbrook. Tarling said some residents were offering trees from as far away as Sanford, but distance can be a factor in the city making its choice.

“If they’re that far away, then we can’t go to Sanford,” he said.

Even from Westbrook it took about 45 minutes, traveling at 15 mph, but within half an hour of arriving the tree was in place, with only four guy wires to be attached to anchor it to the surrounding buildings. Tarling said crews will then begin adorning the tree with more than 3,000 lights in preparation for the official lighting, which will happen on Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving.

Tarling said the tree will likely stay up until early January, and once taken down will be recycled into mulch and woodchips.