Tory Houser, with the Forest Service, explaining to a class of first graders how to make some Christmas ornaments. Wrangell was chosen to donate the Christmas tree for the governor's mansion this year, she said. The tree will either come from Wrangell or Zarembo island, and will be cut down around Nov. 24.
Jacoby Hunt and his handmade ornament for the governor's Christmas tree.
Students at Evergreen Elementary School have spent the past few days making Christmas ornaments. Some students drew pictures of Alaskan wildlife, others made miniature wreaths, and another class made poinsettias. All these ornaments are not only fun projects for students to work on. They will be travelling up to Juneau in the coming weeks to hang on the governor's Christmas tree. Tory Houser, with the Forest Service, said that the Wrangell district of the Tongass National Forest has also been selected to donate the tree itself.
"We were honored to be selected to provide the governor's tree this year. The Forest Service is going to go find a beautiful shore pine, or it's also called a lodgepole pine tree," she said. "We also decided we were going to provide all of the ornaments for this tree. We're making all of those ornaments out of natural wood products from our forest."
Houser said that the Forest Service is looking at trees on Wrangell Island, as well as Zarembo and Etolin. All three islands are within the Wrangell district. It is a "togetherness tree," as Houser called it, and different organizations across the Wrangell community have come together to participate. The elementary school is making ornaments, for example, as well as Head Start and long term care. She also said that, once the right tree is found, Wrangell's tribal organization will perform a blessing in a small ceremony. The Christmas tree will be cut and prepared for transport around Nov. 24.
"You don't want to cut it down too soon, because it could die and then all those needles will fall off, but they still need it so they can have it in the governor's house for a month," Houser said.
The U.S. Coast Guard will transport the tree to its final destination. Lieutenant Nicholas Capuzzi, public information officer with the Coast Guard, said that the 110-foot cutter Liberty will be handling the job. The Liberty is expected to arrive in Wrangell on Nov. 25, he said, and the tree will be in Juneau by Nov. 28.
Houser said that a different community is selected to provide the governor's Christmas tree every year. She could not remember the last time Wrangell was chosen, but said it has been a while as there are lots of communities across the state.
"But we've got the best trees," she said with a laugh.
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