While winter holidays might appear distant through the haze of fall midterms, New Haven’s non-denominational “Holiday Tree” is scheduled to arrive in the Elm City tomorrow.

An e-mail sent this morning from City spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga:

The 2009 New Haven Holiday Tree will be cut down at its current home in Shelton at 9 a.m. on Thursday and will be loaded onto a flatbed trailer on its way to the New Haven Green. At around 12 noon Thursday, the tree is expected to arrive at the Green where the New Haven Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees will use a crane to hoist it into place for decorating. Twenty-thousand lights will be tied to the tree spaced out at every 5 to 6 inches. As part of New Haven’s effort to be a greener and cleaner city, LED lights will once again be used to colorfully illuminate this traditional symbol of the holiday season in Downtown. The tree was donated by a family in Shelton.

Last year’s holiday tree was a 60-foot Norway spruce.

(Photo courtesy of www.cityofnewhaven.com.)