Volunteers lift Bentleyville's big tree into place (with photos, video)

• Bentleyville setup

University of Minnesota Duluth freshman Tyler Nelson (left) of Las Vegas and sophomore Jenni Starbuck of Woodbury, Minn., help hang lights on a tunnel frame Saturday for the upcoming Bentleyville Tour of Lights display at Bayfront Park in Duluth. They were among about a dozen UMD students with the Students Today Leaders Forever group helping set up the display, which opens Nov. 17. About 120 volunteers were on hand Saturday. (Andrew Krueger / akrueger@duluthnews.com)
• Bentleyville setup

A crane lifts the last of three sections of the 128-foot-tall lighted steel tree into place Saturday at the Bentleyville Tour of Lights site at Bayfront Park in Duluth. Lakehead Constructors, Ironworkers Local 512 and Halvor Lines trucking donated time and equipment to lift the tree into place. The tree will be lit with more than 50,000 LED lights when the annual display opens Nov. 17. (Andrew Krueger / akrueger@duluthnews.com)
• Bentleyville setup

A crane lifts the last of three sections of the 128-foot-tall lighted steel tree into place Saturday at the Bentleyville Tour of Lights site at Bayfront Park in Duluth. Lakehead Constructors, Ironworkers Local 512 and Halvor Lines trucking donated time and equipment to lift the tree into place. The tree will be lit with more than 50,000 LED lights when the annual display opens Nov. 17. (Andrew Krueger / akrueger@duluthnews.com)
• Bentleyville setup

Workers connect sections of the 128-foot-tall lighted steel tree Saturday at the Bentleyville Tour of Lights site at Bayfront Park in Duluth. Lakehead Constructors, Ironworkers Local 512 and Halvor Lines trucking donated time and equipment to lift the tree into place. The tree will be lit with more than 50,000 LED lights when the annual display opens Nov. 17. (Andrew Krueger / akrueger@duluthnews.com)

Talk about it

There wasn't any snow on the ground, but there was a flurry of activity at Bayfront Park in Duluth on Saturday as volunteers lifted the centerpiece 128-foot-tall steel tree into place for the annual Bentleyville Tour of Lights display.

Lakehead Constructors, Ironworkers Local 512 and Halvor Lines trucking donated time and equipment to lift the tree into place. It will be lit by more than 50,000 LED lights for the holiday display that opens Nov. 17.

About 120 volunteers total were on hand Saturday, display organizer Nathan Bentley said. In addition to lifting the steel tree, volunteers strung lights from the displays "tunnels" and did other setup work. It was the third weekend volunteers gathered to help set up the display.

Volunteers are still welcome to help out with the setup; check the display's website - www.bentleyvilleusa.org - for details. People who want to help out during the annual display should check back to the website next month.

This year's Bentleyville display opens Nov. 17 and will run through Dec. 26 - 40 days and nights, the longest Bentleyville display yet thanks to Thanksgiving falling somewhat early this year.

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