M Resort dedicates grand Christmas tree to less fortunate

By Kyle B. Hansen

Published Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 | 9:49 p.m.

Updated Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 | 10:30 p.m.

For the Nye family, moving to Henderson from Maryland meant Christmas was going to be different this year.

While that may mean no snow, they did get to enjoy some of the perks of living in the land of hotel-casinos. Saturday night they saw the lighting of the M Resort’s Christmas tree, billed as the largest non-living Christmas tree in the nation.

“We’ve never been to an event like this before. It’s really nice,” said Dan Nye. “You don’t think it’s as big as it is, until you see it.”

His wife, Krista, said their two boys, Reese, 7, and Derek, 8, were getting restless until the tree lit up.

But the night was worth it after seeing the shimmering tree, Reese said. “Now it glows. It looks all golden,” he said.

While other places boast taller trees, they are either artificial or still in the ground growing. The M Resort’s 109-foot, 11-ton White Fir came to the resort from Oregon.

“We cut this tree down, closed roads and highways to bring it here. It took more than seven days to get it in the ground and decorated and tonight, I’m very excited that so many people showed up to share the lighting of the Christmas tree with us,” said the resort’s chief executive, Anthony Marnell III.

Marnell said the tree is dedicated to all of the children in the Las Vegas Valley who won’t have a tree in their own homes because of the difficult economic times.

“This tree is for them and they can come here any time they want to enjoy how beautiful and special it is,” he said.

Malinda Schindler and her family drove down from the northwest valley to see the tree-lighting.

She was so impressed, she sent a text message her to friends back in the Midwest. “New York’s got the Rockefeller Center and we’ve got the M Resort, and it’s (the tree) bigger, and it’s not as cold here,” she said.