Downtown Cincinnati and Fountain Square are full of festivities each year at the holidays. An early sign of the season is the annual installation of the tree at the corner of Fifth and Vine streets on Fountain Square.

After a careful selection process, the tree typically arrives in early November. Workers first build a base for the tree with heavy steel plates and I-beams. The tree arrives on the same truck that removed it from the ground.

Once on site, the tree is lifted from a horizontal to a vertical position, set into the base, and secured with cables and wood blocking. Plenty of mulch and a wall of stone pavers complete the base.

It takes about four hours to set the tree, secure it, and attach the red star at the top. Finally, the tree is decorated with 20,000 white lights in preparation for the big tree-lighting event in late November.

Watch a video from WLWT-TV Channel 5 on the installation of the tree on November 7, 2009.

The 2009 tree is about 50 feel tall. With the five-foot root ball and Macy's star topper, the tree stands about 60 feet high.

ENERFAB, a 107-year-old, Cincinnati-based metal fabrication company that moved the Fountain to and from the Square during the renovation in 2006, oversees the complex installation of the tree.  

This year's tree comes from the same yard as last year’s, that of Richard and Cindy Duffy of Wooster, Ohio.

A number of companies contribute to the transport and installation of the tree. In addition to ENERFAB, in-kind sponsorship is provided by HGC Construction, CFS Construction, Model Construction, Volvo Rents, Reading Rock, Christmas Lighting Company, Secon and THP.

The holiday tree is the centerpiece of the annual Macy’s Light Up the Square, a family-friendly event that kicks off the holiday season in Cincinnati. The event takes place the day after Thanksgiving. Macy's, P&G, and Toyota are sponsors of this year's event. Read more about the tree-lighting event here.