Charleswood man donates 2017 City Hall Christmas tree in memory of late wife

For three decades, Antony van Ginkel has watched his 42-foot blue Colorado spruce grow from his front window in Charleswood.

On Sunday, the tree will be cut down, put on a trailer truck, and shipped to Downtown Winnipeg after it was chosen as City Hall’s 2017 Christmas tree.

But for van Ginkel, the tree represents more than just bright lights over the holidays.

RELATED: Christmas tree erected at Winnipeg City Hall

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On Friday, he said the donation is a tribute to his late wife Rosemary, who died in 2012.

“She loved it,” van Ginkel said of his wife of 55 years. “She had brain cancer so she was in the hospital for a little while and I said ‘bring her home’, so I moved everything out of the way and put her in front of the window because she liked the outside to come in.”

“She said before she died ‘decorate it’ and I said ‘I can’t do that’, so she said to give it to city hall.”

The city plans to decorate the tree with 9,000 lights — something that van Ginkel said will bring a smile to his face.

“She’ll look down from the top and say ‘good’, van Ginkel said. “When you love someone, there are no boundaries.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "She'll look down from the top and say 'good', van Ginkel said. "When you love someone, there are no boundaries."

Every year, the city chooses a tree donated by a resident as the centrepiece of their holiday display at the city offices on Main Street.