Unlike its secret location in the Green Mountains, its new placement is precisely where all can see it: in an arrow-straight axis putting it in line with the Capitol's dome, the Washington Monument a mile away and the Lincoln Memorial even further. The 44-year-old is vertical for the first time since it was felled 11 days ago, but even on its side and wrapped within a giant canvas sack it brought comfort to veterans along the way, wrought new friendships among those following it, and required around-the-clock guards to keep it safe.
'On a mission'
"We didn't just come to drop the tree off. We were on a mission. And we accomplished that mission," said Lisa Byer of Bennington, executive director of CAT-TV, an education-based access television station that documented the journey.
Byer has also blogged about her experiences in the Bennington Banner.
A network of Vermonters rallied around the tree transport, turning it into a caravan with 22 vehicles and 76 people that received parade-like welcomes in towns in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The flatbed rig and its followers stopped at seven veterans facilities,
Their final visit was Saturday at Washington's Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars recover from injuries that often include lost limbs. "Every person there had tears in his eyes," said Lindy Lynch, who helped organize the project through the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce.
Joann Erenhouse, executive director of the chamber of commerce, said planning for the event began two years ago when it became clear the Architect of the Capitol would choose a Vermont tree to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Green Mountain National Forest. That happened in August, when the 4,000-pound tree was selected from several that forest officials had doted on for some-20 years, making them what one called the "beauty pageant contestants."
"This is something that isn't just for Bennington," Erenhouse said. "It's our way of sharing the holiday spirit with everybody." The tree, however, suffered some bruises during the 600-mile journey. Some lower limbs are broken and, like a snapped heel under a stage spotlight, the bright internal wood is an obvious blemish. That's where the "parts tree" comes in. Every Capitol Christmas tree is accompanied by a no-name stand in, whose limbs can be fitted into bare spots.
"You'll never know," assured Kristi Ponozzo, one of nine Green Mountain National Forest employees who made the trip. A different mark on the tree caught the eye of nine-year-old Roan Leahy, the grandson of Sen. Patrick Leahy, who welcomed the tree and its followers to the Capitol grounds Monday.
Near the tree's base someone had written "This end down."
"I thought it was funny as heck," said Leahy, who took Roan to the tree ceremony in Bennington last week. "I was about to speak. I was laughing so hard I had to wait a minute."
The tree will be decorated with energy efficient lights, called LED, or light-emitting diode, and 4,500 ornaments made in Vermont, depicting the state's historical events, heritage and people.
Then in a ceremony on Dec. 5, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will light the tree as the Mount Anthony Union High School Choral signs carols. The tree was alone Monday afternoon for perhaps the first time since being cut down. The caravan was gone. So too were its bodyguards. It stood alone in a hole big enough for a body, filled with murky water.
Held in place
Four metal guy wires kept it upright in the rain. And as the caravan moved back toward Bennington, it was clear the trip was more about making veterans, visitors and Vermonters happy than it was about remembering the tree.
"We didn't name the tree," Erenhouse said. "It's like naming your cow. You'd never want to get rid of it."
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