Shawnee County (WIBW) - A sure sign the holiday season is right around the corner turned up in downtown Topeka Wednesday.

Westar crews cut down the city's official holiday tree from the yard of Jean Riley in northwest Shawnee County.

Jean says she's enjoyed it for 21 years and thought others might enjoy it as well. She says she was inspired to share it by a poem that ends, "poems are written by fools like me but only God can make a tree." She says giving it to Topeka as a Christmas tree is perfect since Christmas is Jesus' birthday.

The tree will sit outside the Westar building in downtown Topeka. It will be decorated this weekend and lit at 5:30 pm November 28th, right before the Miracle on Kansas Avenue parade.