An 88-foot tall Engelmann spruce tree from the ColvilleNational Forest that will eventually grace the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to serve as the official 2013 Capitol Christmas Tree will make a two-hour stop over in Yakima on Thursday, November 7th.
The convoy carrying the 2013 Capitol Christmas Tree on its journey of over 4000 miles will stop on 3rd Street in Yakima in front of the Capitol Theatre and Millennium Plaza from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on November 7th. Community members are invited to come see the tree and to sign banners that will accompany the tree as it makes its way across the country before arriving in Washington, D.C. in time to be decorated for the holiday season.
During the stopover in Yakima, representatives from the ColvilleNational Forest will also be on hand to answer questions about how the tree was selected from several potential Capitol Christmas tree candidates, how it is being transported to across the country, and what it will look like once it is fully decorated on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.
The tree is a gift from the state of Washington to the rest of the country. More than 7,000 ornaments, which were mostly made by school kids in WashingtonState, are also part of the gift to the nation. The ornaments had to meet strict criteria in order to be accepted. They had to be durable, weather proof, less than half-a-pound in weight, and no bigger than 12 inches across. In addition to the ornaments, the tree will ultimately be decorated with thousand of lights that will truly make the tree shine.
The tradition of a Capitol Christmas Tree began in 1964 and has continued ever since. The competition to provide “the People’s Tree” has become fierce over the years. This year marks the second time a tree from WashingtonState has served as the official Capitol Christmas Tree.
More information about the tree and its journey across America can be found on the official 2013 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree website at http://capitolchristmastree.com/.
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