- Washington D.C. Metblogs - http://dc.metblogs.com -

Capitol Christmas Tree 2007

Posted By dc_paulo On December 3, 2007 @ 9:54 pm In Capitol Hill, Special Events | Comments Disabled

IMG_0635.JPG [1] IMG_0638.JPG [2]

Here we see a team of AOC [3] guys hard at work putting the finishing touches on the 2007 Capitol Christmas Tree [4], a balsam fir gifted to us from Green Mountain National Forest in the great state of Vermont.

Not to be confused with the National Christmas Tree [5] by the White House, the Capitol Christmas Tree started out as a 24-foot Douglas fir from Birdsboro, PA, which stayed on the Capitol Lawn and was lit and decorated every Christmas from 1963 to 1967. Wind storm damage in 1967 caused the tree to die in 1968, so that the trees for Christmas of ‘68 and ‘69 were brought in from Maryland. From 1970 onwards, the Capitol Christmas Tree has been provided yearly by the USDA Forest Service [6], with trees gifted by a donor state. See the full list from 1970 to 2006 here. [3]

There will be a Tree Lighting Ceremony [7] on Wed, Dec 5th, 5PM, with Nancy Pelosi, Patrick Leahy, Bernie Sanders, and Peter Welch, followed by a Vermont-style reception at the Botanical Gardens.

The first Capitol tree I saw was from Idaho, and had potato decorations on it. What kind of stuff do you think should be hanging from a Vermont tree?

The 2004 Capitol Christmas Tree [8]


Article printed from Washington D.C. Metblogs: http://dc.metblogs.com

URL to article: http://dc.metblogs.com/2007/12/03/capitol-christmas-tree-2007/

URLs in this post:

[1] Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownpau/2078642553/

[2] Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownpau/2079433292/

[3] AOC: http://www.aoc.gov/cc/grounds/hol_trees/index.cfm

[4] 2007 Capitol Christmas Tree: http://capitolchristmastree2007.org/

[5] National Christmas Tree: http://www.nps.gov/whho/historyculture/history-of-the-national-christmas-trees.htm

[6] USDA Forest Service: http://www.fs.fed.us/

[7] Tree Lighting Ceremony: http://www.capitolchristmastree2007.org/events.html

[8] Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownpau/102496908/

Terms of use | Privacy Policy | Content made available under Creative Commons
Site and Design © 2008 | Metroblogging ® and Metblogs ® are registered trademarks of Bode Media, Inc.