FtV - Boston’s Christmas Tree
New England Legends Podcast
Jeff Belanger
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 25 December 2023
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to New England Legends From the Vault – FtV Episode 39 – In Episode 175, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger stroll Boston Common to see this year’s Christmas tree. The tree is an annual gift from the people of Halifax, Nova Scotia – a gift that traces its roots back to a horrible tragedy that took place December 6, 1917, when a French ship carrying munitions exploded, instantly killing hundreds of people, and injuring thousands more. Out of this dark day came a bright light of hope when neighbors reached out to help neighbors. This episode first aired December 24, 2020.
Listen ad-free plus get early access and bonus episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome, legendary listeners. |
| 0:01.7 | Thanks for tuning in to From the Vault, a second look at some of our classic episodes. |
| 0:06.1 | Look for a new episode every week. |
| 0:07.8 | Now, can you go back and listen on your own at our New England Legends.com? |
| 0:11.6 | You bet. |
| 0:12.2 | But you won't get the added bonus of an after-the-legion segment featuring new commentary about that episode from your old pals Jeff and Ray. |
| 0:20.7 | So let's open up the New England Legends Vault and revisit another legendary episode. |
| 0:27.8 | Welcome to the Vault, everybody. How are you? Merry Christmas. It is Christmas Day, |
| 0:32.7 | a Christmas Day vault. We thought it would be fun to go back. Look at one of our old Christmas |
| 0:36.8 | episodes. |
| 0:41.0 | This one first aired December 24th, 2020. Enjoy. |
| 0:46.8 | Oh, I love Boston at Christmas, Jeff. I mean, maybe it's a pandemic, but I feel like these holiday lights mean even more right now. It's almost like they know they need to shine a little |
| 0:52.2 | brighter because we could use the extra cheer this year. Absolutely. Though there aren't too many people out here on the Boston Common right now, I love seeing all the lights and the decorations. Hey, check out this year's Christmas tree. Yeah. It's a 40-foot tall white spruce. It's a beauty. It's covered in thousands of lights. So the whole ceremony this year looked a lot |
| 1:11.4 | different compared to previous years. Sure. I mean, you can't have thousands of people |
| 1:15.1 | crowding together in Boston Common. Right, right. But I feel like the spirit is still here, |
| 1:19.3 | even if we're not standing shoulder to shoulder. But how I miss the big crowds and getting |
| 1:24.3 | together. Yeah, yeah. It's tough to see a tradition have to change this year. |
| 1:28.1 | Traditions have always evolved and changed, but one part of this Boston Christmas tree tradition |
| 1:32.8 | that hasn't changed is where the tree came from. This tree, as with all of Boston's Christmas |
| 1:38.9 | trees for the last 49 years, is a gift from the people of Nova Scotia. |
| 1:49.0 | It's a thank you gift that traces its roots to a horrible December disaster. |
| 2:00.6 | I'm Jeff Belanger and welcome to episode 175, the Christmas special of the New England Legends podcast. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jeff Belanger, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jeff Belanger and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.