As tradition would have it, tree topping ceremonies are conducted when ironworkers reach the pinnacle of a structure. An American flag is usually added to the tree and at Holy Cross the Holy Cross flag was added, the first time it is flying on this new campus on Paris Avenue.
This was done on top of the Middle School Building. Construction is being done on the High School Building and the Administration Building etc. and students should be in the buildings for the start of the school year in September 2009, four years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their School on Dauphine Street.
The custom goes back centuries. Scandinavian mythology suggests that humans originated from trees (sounds good to me, better than from apes) and our souls returned to the trees after death, giving each tree a spirit of its own.
The custom of placing a tree on a completed structure came with immigrants to the United States and became an integral part of American culture.