Crews used a handsaw Wednesday to cut down a 60-year-old Norway spruce that will be this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

more stories like thisThe 84-foot-tall tree in Joseph and Judy Rivnyak's backyard is being prepared to make the trip to the Big Apple.

The Rivnyaks have lived at the home on Soundview Avenue for 32 years and say the tree was planted in 1947 by the home's first owner.

The tree lighting ceremony will be held Nov. 28 in New York City.

Four of the past nine Rockefeller Center Christmas trees have come from Connecticut, including Norway spruces from Ridgefield last year, Manchester in 2003 and Killingworth in 1999.

Joseph Rivnyak said he was reluctant at first but warmed to the idea.

"What really boggles my mind is when somebody says when this is all over and done with, maybe a billion people will have seen this tree," he told WVIT-TV Wednesday morning.

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