Now that Halloween is over, the next holidays arrive in rapid succession. Thanksgiving is technically the next in line, Christmas reigns supreme, and it’s impossible not to take note as stores switch over their music and houses begin to light up.
The festive preparations are already underway in our nation's capital, where the U.S. Capitol's west lawn hosts a Christmas tree of epic proportions each year. Since 1970, the U.S. Forest Service has provided the Capitol Christmas Tree, and it crossed San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge for the first time ever on Monday.
The tree is making a historic journey from Six Rivers National Forest in California to Washington this year, stopping at the Vallejo Ferry Terminal on Monday.
U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree spokesperson Samantha Reho told KCBS Radio the 84-foot tall white fir, nicknamed "Sugar Bear," was originally scheduled to stop in Sausalito before rain in the forecast forced a change of plans. The eye-catching truck carrying the precious cargo had already stopped in Crescent City, Eureka and Ukiah, where Reho said the Halloween costumes were in full force on Sunday.
Also known as the People's Tree, this year's entry was harvested on Oct. 23 at Six Rivers National Forest in California. Reho said Forest Service Region 5, which consists of California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, has known it would provide the 2021 tree for about three years.
Each of the 18 national forests within the region then pitched why theirs should be selected, with Six Rivers National Forest picked for the first time. Reho said the tree grew in the Mad River Ranger District, over half of which was burned in last year's August Complex.
The tree was specifically harvested from an overgrown area that needed to be thinned out, Reho said, calling it a symbol of proper forest management and a "testament to fortitude and resilience" of the region, and Californians as a whole, following multiple "historic" wildfire seasons.
"There's still six hours between San Francisco and Oregon, and this was kind of a really cool way to represent those communities," she told KCBS Radio in a phone interview.
Monday’s stop in Vallejo was one of over 20 the tree will make en route to the U.S. Capitol, showcasing a 150-foot mobile exhibit at each. The exhibit displays art from tribal communities within Six Rivers National Forest, as well as ornament stickers for visitors to sign.
Californians submitted 15,000 ornaments to the agency, which officials said were the most by a single state. The tree will display as many as 6,000 of those, with a tree-lighting ceremony set to take place next month. You can follow the tree's cross-country journey here.
Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified Samantha Reho as Samantha Reno. This story has been updated to correct the error.
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