Capitol tree coming to town
HAMILTON - The Capitol Christmas tree will be coming to Pablo on the Flathead Indian Reservation before heading to Washington, D.C. for the Dec. 2 lighting ceremony on the west lawn of the capitol building.
The tree will be displayed on a truck from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 5. Tribal elders will speak about the importance of the Bitterroot area to the Tribes, there will be a formal blessing and other speakers about the process. A lunch of buffalo stew will be served to the community at noon in the SKC Joe McDonald Athletic Facility Campus Room. This community event is free and everyone is welcom to attend.
The Bitterroot National Forest was chosen to provide the 2008 Capitol Christmas tree. The tree cutting ceremony will take place Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. near Hamilton, Montana. The ceremony will include Montana singer Jack Gladstone singing a song he wrote. Trapper Creek Job Corps will provide hot chocolate and snacks. People are invited to watch the tree cutting and see it loaded into the truck provided by National Van Lines.
The tree will then tour the state of Montana and stop at designated communities along the way to give people a chance to give it a proper send-off before heading to Washington, D.C.
For more information and to look at the travel route, visit www.capitolchristmastree2008.org
Capitol Christmas Tree History:
The tradition of placing a Christmas tree on the front lawn of the U.S. Capitol dates back to 1964. Since 1970, the "people's tree" has come from our national forests.
This is the second time in almost 20 years Montana has provided the Capitol Christmas tree. The Kootenai National Forest selected an Engelmann Spruce for the capitol tree in 1989.
The tradition started 43 years ago when Speaker of the House John W. McCormack suggested the idea to the Architect of the Capitol. The first ever Capitol Christmas tree was a 24-foot Douglas Fir tree purchased from a Pennsylvania nursery for $700. The tree stayed in place for three years until weather and root damage took its toll on the "people's tree."
In December 1968, a new and taller tree was planted in front of the capitol building. The 30-foot-tall tree from Maryland was lit by House Republican Leader Gerald R. Ford (MI). The following December, an even bigger tree was placed in front of the capitol. This time a 40-foot blending of two Maryland white pines were lit as part of the annual tradition. But, the Capitol Architect was not pleased and approached the Forest Service for help.
How the Bitterroot National Forest Was Chosen:
Traditionally, the Forest Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. maintains a list of national forests that want to provide the tree. Any forest interested in doing this submits a nomination form. The Forest Service Chief and the rest of the executive office look through the nominations and decide which Forests will provide the trees for the following three years.
The team plans three years ahead to give each forest adequate time to prepare and plan.
The executive team considers a number of factors when determining which forest will provide the tree. They look at the history and try to pick forests that haven't done this before, or at least recently. They also look for anything special taking place on the forest and try to coordinate with those special events.
It's been nearly 20 years since a forest in Montana has provided the tree and since the Bitterroot National Forest submitted a nomination, Montana was a perfect choice to provide the tree for 2008.