Columbia Falls tabbed to host Capitol Christmas Tree

By JOE SOVA / Hungry Horse News

Santa Claus will be coming to town on Christmas Eve, but seven weeks before that another holiday event will be featured in Columbia Falls.

The 60-foot-tall 2008 Capitol Christmas Tree, which will grace the West Lawn of the nation's Capitol in Washington, D.C. in December, arrives Wednesday, Nov. 5. Arrival will be around 5 p.m. at Glacier Discovery Square, and the event will be tied into other festivities at the facility.

Montana " and the Bitterroot National Forest, headquartered in Hamilton " have been asked to provide this year's Christmas tree. Asking a National Forest to supply what is called 'The People's Tree' is a tradition that began in 1970. Each year since then, a different National Forest and state in which the forest is located, are asked to provide the tree "and all the trimmings" as a gift to our nation.

"The Capitol Christmas Tree event gives the community and the area a chance to show off Columbia Falls and the great small-town atmosphere we enjoy," Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce President Lyle Mitchell said. "With that, we want to expand on our fall decorating campaign. We are asking businesses and individuals to step it up and get creative and decorate with a Community Fall Harvest Celebration theme."

There has been a decorating contest in October for more than a decade, and Mitchell said this year's effort is toward the end of October and during the first week of November ' when the 2008 Capitol Christmas Tree arrives. The Chamber will facilitate the use of straw bales, and cornstalks will be available. The contest winner is announced during the Nov. 5 activities.

THE CAPITOL Christmas Tree harvest ceremony is Saturday, Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. in the Bitterrroot National Forest. Mildenberger Motors, working in conjunction with Farmers State Bank and the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce, hosts a community reception and tree send-off on that date, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the dealership.

More than 70 smaller trees for Congressional offices and agencies in D.C. will also be supplied by the Bitterroot National Forest. More than 5,000 ornaments, made in Montana, will be placed on the trees. The deadline for contributing ornaments is Oct. 15, so call the BNF office at (406) 363-7100 if you'd like to participate.

Artist C.J. "Cindy' Bryant won a contest, sponsored by Farmers State Bank of Victor, to select Montana's official painting for the 2008 Capitol Christmas Tree project. She named her painting of a majestic old-growth tree in a winter mountain landscape, prophetically, "The Chosen One." It was on display through Sept. 19 in the Montana State Capitol Rotunda with 11 other pieces from the art contest. It will hang in the Forest Service Chief's office for a year before joining previous years' paintings in "The Tree Gallery."

On Nov. 4, the Capitol Christmas Tree is transported to Stevensville and then Missoula. Arrival will be around 11 a.m. Nov. 5 in Pablo, then it arrives in Columbia Falls around 5 p.m. The tree will spend the night at the U.S. Forest Service District office in Hungry Horse.

The next morning, the Capitol Christmas Tree travels to Browning, Cutbank and Shelby. Then it's on to many other Montana towns, the last stops in the state Nov. 12 in Sidney and Glendive. The journey continues through North Dakota and points east, and the Capitol Christmas Tree is scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 21.

Festivities to celebrate the arrival of the 2008 Capitol Christmas Tree begin around 3:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at Glacier Discovery Square, on Nucleus Avenue. The event is coordinated by the First Best Place Task Force and Tree City USA committee. The community's own special tree will be planted at Discovery Square as part of the ceremony.