BAKER CITY — David McCoy watches as the grand fir that has stood in his west Baker City yard for four decades slowly begins the journey to its final, glittering, multicolored destination.

McCoy’s late wife, Pat, who died in 2012, planted the tree four or five years after the couple moved to their home on 20th Street, between Broadway and Baker streets, in 1980.

David held his hands about 2 feet apart to demonstrate the height of the seedling, which they brought from the forest near Baker City, when Pat laid its roots in the soil.

On Nov. 21, he watched the tree glide through the air to a waiting trailer for its short ride to Court Plaza downtown.

The fir will be festooned with lights and ornaments and serve as Baker City’s community Christmas tree.

David said he will be there when the lights are switched on after the Twilight Parade on the evening of Dec. 7.

He said his wife would have approved of his decision to donate the tree to the community.

David said he was planning to cut the tree, which is about 30 feet tall, this year.

Then he thought about the community Christmas tree.

“I knew it was a good tree,” he said.

He offered it to the city, and city officials selected it from among the contestants.

A little after 9 a.m., Chuck Carey yanked the starting cord on his chain saw and started cutting through the tree’s trunk.

Employees from Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative used a cherry picker and a crane to keep the fir in place and, after Carey finished the cut, they maneuvered it to the Superior Towing trailer.

David said the fir, although healthy, was something of a maintenance headache.

A covey of quail frequently nested in the tree, and although he didn’t mind the birds, he didn’t like that the birds attracted the attention of many cats.

“It got to the point where it was more than we can take care of,” he said.

After watching the tree grow from a knee-high seedling, McCoy said he’ll adjust to its absence. Earlier this year he had another tree that Pat planted about the same time, a tamarack, removed.

“We’ll get used to it,” he said.

“I knew it was a good tree.”

— David McCoy, who donated Baker City’s community Christmas tree