FOR YEARS, CAREN EUSTER, a physician in The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Emergency Department, and her family planned to chop down the majestic Norwegian spruce in their Baltimore County backyard and make it their Christmas tree. But the spruce, originally purchased by a previous homeowner as a live Christmas tree, stayed put. As it got “bigger and bigger and bigger,” the tree grew too tall to fit into her home, Euster says.

   But the 34-foot spruce became a Christmas tree once again when Euster’s offer to donate it to Baltimore City was accepted this year. Early in December, the tree was removed, transferred by flatbed truck and installed with a crane in front of Baltimore City Hall. Euster, her family and a festive crowd attended the tree lighting on Dec. 19. “It was too big to make it ours,” she says, “but now it’s everybody’s.”