A busload of volunteers from Random House worked at a Habitat project on E. Parmenter Street.
By Nancy Peckenham
A children’s book about a boy who sold Christmas trees near Rockefeller Center 80 years ago has prompted a group of 40 volunteers employed at Random House publishers to spend the day working in Newburgh on a home being built by Habitat for Humanity.
The group spent Tuesday digging holes to plant flowers or working on interior construction of the house on East Parmenter Street, a result of a partnership between the publisher and the author of The Carpenter’s Story: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree.
David Rubel wrote the book with Habitat in mind. The story tells the tale of 8-year-old Henry who is selling trees with his father in New York City near the construction site of Rockefeller Center in 1931. The two donate a tree to the construction workers to decorate for Christmas and a friendship emerges. Later, the workers donate their labor to build a home for the family that was living a hardscrabble life in the country.
Decades later, scouts who search each year for the perfect Christmas tree for Rockefeller Center, found a tree that grew on Henry’s property after his house was built. Henry donated the tree and after the holiday season it was milled into lumber to build a home for another family in need. That act has become a tradition at Habitat for Humanity and this year Newburgh Habitat is scheduled to receive the lumber milled from last year’s Rockefeller Center tree.
Chip Gibson (in red) may be the president of Random House Children's Books but he said he really enjoyed working in the dirt at Habitat.
These acts of giving are central to Habitat for Humanity and the pairing of the book with the organization’s work in Newburgh provided a natural synergy. Chip Gibson, the president and publisher of Random House Children’s Books, took a break from the chores to talk about how the proposal for the book included the idea of volunteering with Habitat. “It’s another dimension and we had a huge interest in giving back,” he said.
Heidi Kilgras is the editor of the book and she recalled her first reaction to the manuscript. “I knew immediately that it was a story that I wanted to acquire,” Kilgras said, describing her vision of the illustrations that would accompany this kind-hearted holiday story. “It’s just such a full circle, a warm family story that is perfect for our times.”
Heidi Kilgras with a copy of The Carpenter's Gift: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree.
The book, The Carpenter’s Story: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree, will arrive in bookstores on September 27th and will sure to be popular for anyone who has taken part in any of the volunteer efforts that have gone into constructing the 400,000 Habitat houses donated to deserving families worldwide.
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