MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) -- Mansfield in northern Ohio has chosen a city Christmas tree that began as a 6-inch sapling from a fast-food children's meal.

The News Journal ( http://ohne.ws/XVVGCi ) reports resident Harold Masters and his grandsons got several saplings in 1996 when McDonald's distributed them to mark Arbor Day. Masters planted them in his yard, and one grew into the 39-foot Canadian blue spruce chosen to be decked out in lights downtown this year.

City officials had told Masters to trim or cut it down because it was so big it was blocking drivers' vision. Masters didn't want to trim one side, so he jumped at the city engineer's suggestion to cut it down as the city's holiday tree.

The 84-year-old says he's glad the tree isn't going straight into a wood chipper.

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Information from: News Journal, http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com