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Boston Holds City's First Tree Lighting Event Of Holiday Season

BOSTON (CBS) -- Thousands of people packed Faneuil Hall Marketplace on Saturday night for the city's official tree lighting ceremony.

It was a star-studded event. Mayor Tom Menino flicked the switch to light the stately evergreen tree, Red Sox player Will Middlebrooks displayed the 2013 World Series trophy and there were several musical performances, including the Tanglewood Festival Chorus conducted by maestro Keith Lockhart as well as Grammy-Award winning singer Paula Cole.

The tree was donated to the city by Debbie Diakou of Smithtown, Long Island, N.Y. She and her husband, Kyriacos, gave up the tree because it was leaning on their house and they were worried that it had suffered too much damage from Superstorm Sandy in October 2012.

The tree, which is 80-feet tall, weighs 12 tons and is covered from top to bottom with more than 30,000 lights.

In Photos: Boston tree lighting at Faneuil Hall.

CBS Boston's WBZ-TV and Faneuil Hall Marketplace hosted the event.

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