City Times Staff

Mark Janowski looks down from almost 40 feet above Clark St. on Monday as he and two other men decorate the giant evergreen tree in front of the Berkshire Hathaway building.

Janowski had been working with Todd Hydinger — both men work at Compass Properties — to place Christmas decorations on the tree for the past 14 years. An employee of Berkshire Hathaway, Various Tucker, has been helping with the decorations for the past five.

The trio were glad for Monday’s mild 60 degree weather, which in years past has made their task far more Herculean.

“This’ll take a day-and-a-half; you wouldn’t believe how windy it gets here, and you have to make sure the decorations won’t fall down” Hydinger said. “It’s amazing, it takes so long to put it all up, but only an hour or so to take it all down.”

The three men had to replace the treetop star this year, and more than 2,400 LED lights will adorn the tree this time around.

“The tree keeps growing, so we keep buying lights,” Janowski said.

The tree will be lit at dusk on Nov. 18.