Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away, but the excitement of Christmas was in the air Thursday in Queensbury, where a 62-foot Norway Spruce selected as this year's Rockefeller Christmas tree in New York City was cut down.

Hundreds of thousands of people will travel to Manhattan to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, but the tree itself has a journey of its own, and this year’s journey began in this Warren County town.

On Thursday, all eyes were fixed 80 feet in the sky as a 90-year-old Norway spruce was cut down for shipment downstate. Even the tiniest town residents were filled with pride.

"I'm here because I like the tree, and I didn't want to miss it cause it’s so cool and so tall," said Delaney Olson, 6.

Owner Neil Lebowitz was approached in June about donating the tree, which comes from a piece of land that’s been in his family for over two decades.

"It's something we can share with everybody else," Lebowitz said. "It’s our gift to everybody. On the other hand, another thing that ran through my mind is this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Do it! It'll be a gas, and it has been!"

The Rockefeller Christmas team was in town looking at another contender — one of the hundreds of submissions from across the country — when they spotted THE tree.

"When I came in the early part of the summer, I was driving down Main Street here in Queensbury, I saw the tree off to the side and I knew after I was done with another appointment, I have I'd come by and check it out," said Erik Pauze, head gardener at Rockefeller Center.

The tree-lighting ceremony is Nov. 30.

"To be able to say that this came from our neighborhood is great, and I have lots of friends and colleagues and co-workers in the New York City metro area, so I've been telling them all along that they're getting a little bit of our town in their city," said Rachel Hajos, Lebowitz's neighbor.

The tree from Queensbury will arrive in New York City on Saturday. Thousands of people are expected to greet it.