The Capitol Christmas Tree: Now Shines On Capitol Hill

VIDEO: Associated Press Video Feed



Access The Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony video
12/6/2006: WASHINGTON, DC: 30 min.


Video: Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony Photo SlideShow

Photos: Washington DC Tree Lighting Ceremony

A close up of the ornaments on the tree depicting natural resources, culture and diversity


Dr. Terry Bergeson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction (left), Micah Joe (Ornament Drawing Winner), and his parents, Chief Petty Officer Alvin Joe and mom Jennifer Joe, "First Mike Gregoire", in WA DC in front of the Capitol Christmas Tree.


The 65-foot tree drapped with 10,000 LED lights


The Pacific Silver Fir lit-up at the US Capitol

Photo Credit:
AnnRené Joseph, Program Supervisor, The Arts, OSPI
(Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts)
Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)



The Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony takes place on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006. The 37-year-old Silver Fir from Olympic National Forest in Washington is 65 ft. tall and is adorned with about 3,000 ornaments and special energy efficient LED lights. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

GOP's Hastert at war with Democrat over 'Christmas' tree

Sen. Patty Murray avoids C-word, opts for 'holiday' at national lighting ceremony

By Joe Kovacs
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., called this a "holiday tree" while House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., referred to it as a "Christmas tree" during last night's 43rd annual lighting of the "U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree"

When Democrats won control of Congress in November's election, the victory may have reignited a controversy many Americans thought had been settled a year ago – and that is what to call the national tree in front of the U.S. Capitol.

In 2005, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., instructed federal officials to refer to it as the "Capitol Christmas Tree," after having been called the "Capitol Holiday Tree" since the 1990s.

But at last night's lighting ceremony for the 65-foot Pacific Silver Fir, the Democrat senator from the tree's home state of Washington never used the word "Christmas" in her speech to the assembled crowd, opting instead for the term "holiday tree" twice.

"It is so wonderful and such an honor to be here tonight in the nation's capital as we light what we all believe from the other end of the country is the best holiday tree ever," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. (Read More)

Tonight: The Capitol Christmas Tree Tree Lighting Ceremony

Tonight at 5p.m. (EST), The Capitol Christmas Tree will be lit by Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the 2006 Tree Ornament Contest winner, Micah Joe, 8, of Tracyton Elementary, Bremerton, WA.


Watch the complete ceremony live on C-Span

Capitol Holiday Tree Cam - 1997

In 1997, Senate staff set up a web cam in a third floor office of the United States Capitol Building and started a tradition that has carried on since, the Tree Cam.

The Tree Cam took a picture of the tree every minute and uploaded it to the web.

This time lapse movie combines those images covering the decoration, test lightings, and final lighting of the 1997 Capitol Holiday Tree.

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The 1997 Capitol Holiday Tree is now lit up and ready for viewing on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. And it's here, compliments of the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota.

"Each year one of our country's 156 National Forests provides the tree," explained Gary Say, a Forest Service timber management assistant on the Spearfish-Nemo Ranger District on the Black Hills National Forest. "And, because 1997 marks the centennial birthday of the Black Hills National Forest, this was a special time for the Forest Service to provide a tree from it."

The 60-foot Black Hills spruce is the third tree that South Dakota has furnished for the holiday festivities. Trees were provided in 1955 and 1970, from the Black Hills National Forest, for display on the Ellipse at the White House. "But this is the first 'people's tree' from us," Say said, "for display outdoors for visitors to the nation's capital."

Glen McNitt, FS public affairs officer for the Black Hills National Forest, said that this is the 34th tree donated cooperatively to Congress, by the Forest Service and a state or area communities, for use as the Capitol Holiday Tree.

Chuck Morris, a FS measurement specialist on the Spearfish-Nemo Ranger District, said that the tree was cut in a ceremony on Nov. 14--in the middle of a blizzard. Then it was loaded on a flatbed truck and arrived in Washington, DC on Dec. 1. He pointed out that the activities surrounding this event are funded through sponsors and donations.

The tree--with its 4,000 ornaments made by school children, senior citizens, and other residents of South Dakota--was formally lit on Dec. 10.

The 1997 Capitol Holiday Tree will be lit each evening throughout the December holiday season.

--Norene Blair

Article Source: USDANEWS - VOLUME 56 NO.10 - NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1997

Capitol Christmas Tree In Washington D.C.

The Capitol Christmas Tree is hoisted on the West Front of the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Nov 27, 2006. The 65-foot Pacific Silver Fir was harvested from the Olympic National Forest in the northwest corner of Washington state. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) See More Photos