Christmas in Chicago includes the annual tree-lighting ceremony in Millennium Park, located downtown near Michigan Avenue and Washington Street. People flock to the park between late November and early January to witness this tradition of more than a century, but few likely understand the tremendous amount of work that goes into lighting it.

Thanks to the planning, logistical, installation and testing support provided by the team at Schaumburg, Ill.-based McWilliams Electric Co. Inc., Chicago’s Millennium Park tree lighting in November 2022 went off seamlessly and helped to carry on a cherished holiday tradition for area residents and visitors.

“To help recognize the area’s union labor and enable a variety of firms to participate in the unique opportunity to install the tree’s lighting, the award is given to a different electrical contracting firm every year,” said Matthew Off, project manager at McWilliams Electric, a full-service commercial and industrial electrical contractor founded in 1922. “The labor is donated by IBEW Local 134 and Powering Chicago [a collaboration between IBEW Local 134 and NECA of the City of Chicago] and McWilliams Electric won the award in October 2022.”

“It was the first time McWilliams Electric ever undertook this job, and we were excited for the opportunity,” Off said. “I’ve always loved doing the Christmas lights at my family’s home when I was younger and at my own home today. I’ve taken my kids to see the tree in Millennium Park and it’s become an annual family tradition for us for over a decade.”

The lighting design of the park’s main and surrounding trees and provision of the LED lights were overseen by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the specialty lighting design firm the city contracted with, Windy City Lights.

“We sat in on planning meetings with all of the stakeholders so that we were aware of the entire plan surrounding the tree lighting, landscaping with other trees and wreaths, ice skating rink schedule and media promotion of everything,” Off said. “The city changes the color scheme for the tree lighting every year, and in 2022 the lighting plan for the main tree involved attractive white and teal lighting with a red star on top, which was designed to honor the colors of the city of Chicago flag.”

A challenging endeavor

According to Andrei Buzdugan, electrical foreman for McWilliams Electric, lighting the iconic tree in Millennium Park was thrilling and challenging.

“The turnaround time for the job was very quick, and our 10-hour days soon became 12-hour days in order to ensure that the tree was ready in time for the Nov. 18 tree lighting,” Buzdugan said. 

   

Although they had a hard deadline and the stakes were high, “I got to choose my own crew and select guys that I knew and trusted,” he said. “The guys I chose for this job had all been at McWilliams for a couple of years, I’d worked with them before, and the professional chemistry was there.”

Buzdugan noted that the entire job his team was tasked with—which involved lighting the main 55-foot tree in the center of the park and 102 trees around the perimeter that stood anywhere from 15 to 35 feet tall—involved over 15 miles of lighting. Per that year’s lighting plan, “We wrapped 500 feet of gold holiday lights around each perimeter tree to differentiate them from the main tree,” he said.

Secrecy was paramount

Secrecy was paramount to the city, which didn’t want the tree lit up in its entirety prior to the official tree lighting, for fear passersby would snap photos and post them on social media, which could jeopardize the “big reveal.”

To avoid the possibility of that happening, “we wrapped every single branch in lights, and every morning our crew met there at 4:45 a.m. to turn on a certain section of the tree, which was divided into four sections and seven circuits so that we could test a circuit at a time and determine if there were any gaps,” Buzdugan said. 

“We’d turn on each of the four sections of the tree to inspect it and add lights as needed, and we used the other three circuits for the star topper, troubleshooting purposes and for additional lights. The star, made by scene fabrication and design studio Chicago Scenic, was created and used for the first time that year,” he said. “My team picked up the star, delivered it to the tree, and it went up the last day of our installation.

“We used two to three lifts every day for the main tree and had four lifts on-site in total,” Buzdugan said. “Every morning when our team got there, we’d put up barricades around the area we were working in for safety. Our lifts remained on-site until 4 p.m., at which point we’d drive them back to our yard (again, for safety reasons), which could take up to 90 minutes due to traffic in the area.”

While the November weather was initially calm following the main tree’s delivery to the park and positioning with a huge crane on Nov. 7, Buzdugan confirmed that Chicago isn’t called the Windy City for nothing.

“The first week or so that our team was on the job, the weather was perfect, and we worked in t-shirts,” he said. “The next week, however, temperatures dropped into the 20s and we had trouble getting our diesel-powered lifts to start up. The weather turned windy and blizzardy, and we worked through it in 12-hour shifts.”

Sap from the freshly cut evergreens throughout the park presented other issues, sticking the workers’ gloves together.

“We had to keep changing out gloves, and we also had to make sure that all lighting connections were properly greased and taped so that water didn’t get stuck in a connection because of the sap and short out a tree,” Buzdugan said. 

“We decorated the other trees around the park while we awaited the delivery and positioning of the main tree, which we ultimately had only five days to light before the star went up on Nov. 16,” he said.

To complete the job in the short time, the team worked like a well-oiled machine.

“Our four crew members worked on the lifts while I prepared a crate for each tree containing the lights and extension cords that would be used. I was the ‘floor guy’ providing them with whatever they needed in terms of products, coffee, etc., to keep things moving,” Buzdugan said. 

He had done his homework in advance by discussing the job with the prior year’s contractor and educating himself on how to wrap stringers around branches without overstretching extension cords. 

“Our crew members averaged 4–5 trees a day around the perimeter of the park, and we also helped the park electricians determine where to plug in power for those trees,” he said.

The big reveal

Under extreme time pressure and snowy weather conditions, the team completed the entire tree lighting installation on Nov. 16—a full day before their Nov. 17 target.

As they prepared to participate in the Nov. 18 tree lighting ceremony in front of a huge crowd, “We’d never seen the entire tree lit up all at once, so it was a little nerve-wracking,” Buzdugan said. “We’d tested all of the sections separately multiple times, but the job required six city electricians to turn on everything throughout the park.”

As for the magic moment when they flipped the ceremonial switch?

“I was relieved,” Buzdugan said. “Everything worked perfectly, everyone was cheering and fireworks went off!”

“Though I live outside the city, the tree in Millennium Park is one of the biggest attractions in the winter and I’d always visited it with my family,” he said. “I never thought I’d be the one to light that tree for others to enjoy. It was an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I couldn’t have done it without our amazing guys.”

“There’s a lot of fanfare at the tree-­lighting ceremony, with a stage set up, local bands playing holiday music, a caroling sing-along and more,” Off said, who was positioned on the stage alongside Chicago’s mayor, the head of IBEW 134 and other local dignitaries. “It’s attended by tens of thousands of people. Michigan Avenue is blocked off to traffic for the event, and everyone is cheering and taking pictures. The crowd loves it, and our team ensured that everything went off without a hitch.”

“It’s an iconic opportunity that truly gives McWilliams Electric ‘bragging rights’—it was exciting to tell customers that we were lighting the big Christmas tree that year,” Off said. “And personally, it was rewarding to be there, and my kids and family all came to the tree lighting. It was a proud moment to have worked on the tree, and we were extremely happy to help contribute to the city of Chicago and provide enjoyment for all of the families and kids who come out to see it every year.”

“Our team really worked together and we were so proud of the results,” Buzdugan said. 

He also passed the torch to the following year’s team of electricians by sharing tips with the contracting firm that was awarded the tree lighting contract in 2023. 

“As a Chicago-area resident, it was great to be able to say that I decorated the main Christmas tree in Chicago and I’m so happy to have been a part of that tradition,” Buzdugan said.

stock.adobe.com / warmworld // McWilliams Electric Co. Inc.