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RAIN Temp: 34 °F Wind: SSE at 3 mph Monday, December 16, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 10, 2002 Oregon tree will adorn U.S. Capitol The 70-foot Douglas fir will be on display in Medford Monday before it is hauled to Washington, D.C. to become the 2002 Capitol Holiday Tree By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune For the first time in the nation’s history, a tree was selected from Oregon for the congressional Christmas tree display on the U.S. Capitol’s west lawn. And for the first time since the invention of plastic, a 70-foot Douglas Fir, wrapped in brightly colored shrink-wrap, will be escorted through Oregon by U.S. Forest Service workers and a 30- member choir. The tour of the country’s annual Capitol Holiday Tree, better known as the People’s Tree and coined this year as "Oregon’s Gift to the Nation," will come to town Monday. The 28-year-old tree was cut last week from the Diamond Lake District of the Umpqua National Forest in Tuketee and will be on hand for celebrations in Jacksonville and Rogue River as part of its tour along the Oregon and Applegate trails. It will make a special stop in Medford. Monday evening, the 90-foot log truck transporting the tree will be on display from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the Voorhies Mansion off Voorhies and South Stage roads between Medford and Phoenix. During the hour-long event sponsored by Holiday Inn Express and the Oregon Wine and Farm Tour, residents can view the tree, sit around a bonfire listening to songs and stories of Oregon’s history and sample spiced wines and ciders, local cheese, pears and chocolates. Event coordinators Anne Root and Mary Ireland said they planned the event in honor of Oregon’s servicemen and women who couldn’t be home for the holidays. "With all of our Oregon service men and women that are overseas right now we felt honored to be a part in sending the Christmas tree to the Capitol. It’s been a big year for Oregon in the national spotlight and this seemed an appropriate year to participate in celebrating the unity of Oregon and the nation," said Ireland. Tuesday, the tree will be on display in Jacksonville, from 9-10 a.m. next to the Texaco on Highway 238. More than 200 students from Jacksonville Elementary and several local dignitaries are expected to attend and the Umpqua Community College choral group, which will perform at all 48 stops between Oregon and Washington, D.C., will hand out information about the Umpqua National Forest and Douglas fir seed packets. Beginning at noon Tuesday, the city of Rogue River will host a similar event across from City Hall at the Rogue River Community Center on Broadway. The choir will perform again and cookies and cocoa will be served. Capitol Holiday Tree keepsakes, such as sweatshirts, cards and ornaments will be on sale at both official stops on Tuesday. Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] Following a tradition The tradition of placing a holiday tree on the U.S. Capitol lawn officially began in 1964 when a live tree was first planted. By 1969, the original tree had perished and the tradition began of choosing a tree from a different forest in the country each year. This year’s tree was chosen for perfect shape, uniform branching and full-bodied green foliage. The tree was a good choice for removal because it had already begun to die on the inside from stress. Only two trees in the almost four decades of the tradition have been taller than 70 feet: a 75-foot Englemann spruce from Utah in 1996 and a 72-foot white spruce from Michigan in 2001. In addition to providing the tree, communities from around Oregon contributed the 6,000 handmade ornaments representing Oregon’s heritage that will adorn the tree once raised. For more on the tree and its journey east, visit capitolholidaytree2002.com on the Web. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S