U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree arrives in Pocatello for Veterans Day parade
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POCATELLO – A nationally-cherished Christmas tree made a stop in east Idaho on a day that celebrates those who served the nation.
The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree whistlestop tour was in Pocatello on Saturday, parked right next to Caldwell Park as the city’s annual Veterans Day parade marched past it.
While stopping in the Gate City added distance to the massive tree’s tour, U.S. Forest Service officials considered the stop worth it.
“We made the extra effort to come into Pocatello to highlight veterans,” said Jeff Schramm, forest supervisor of the Chugach National Forest. “We wanted to come for the parade and to give Pocatello an opportunity to celebrate it.”
Every year for the last half-century, Forest Service officials have selected a tree from a national forest to be cut down and transported to Washington D.C., where it’s placed on the lawn of the Capitol Building. In an event hosted by the Speaker of the House, the tree is then lit up on a broadcast for the entire country to see.
This year, the tree came from Chugach National Forest in Alaska. The roughly 39-year-old tree is a Sitka Spruce, and it stands at a staggering 80 feet tall. While the tree was packaged in a semi-trailer while in Pocatello, it’s around 30 feet wide when it stands upright.
To package the tree, it had to be removed at the roots with a crane and strapped into place by Forest Service employees. A watering system inside the trailer keeps the tree continually moist.
“So when we get to D.C., the needles are still fresh and green,” Schramm said.
As people walked around the trailer holding the tree before and after the Veterans Day parade, they took the opportunity to write their signatures down, adding them to many other names on the trailer.
Schramm has been amazed to witness how excited people are when they get the opportunity to see the Capitol Christmas Tree.
“The tree is known as ‘the People’s Tree,’ and it brings us together so that we can all celebrate the holiday season,” Schramm said.
