Wrangell will go out on a limb Saturday

Wrangell hasn’t been this excited about a harvested spruce tree since the sawmills were running.

Only the tree that is the subject of this month’s enthusiasm wasn’t cut down, it was dug up.

Crews dug, then dug some more, cut some roots and then lifted the 80-foot-tall tree and its massive root wad out of the ground on Zarembo Island on Oct. 19 for a short ride to Wrangell, where it will go on display Saturday, surrounded by a weekend of activities.

Not to diminish its brief display in Wrangell, but the tree’s real destination is the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, where the spruce will live out the rest of its life as the official U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.

Not only is Alaska putting its best tree forward to the nation’s capital for the holidays, but Alaskans have added thousands of handmade ornaments that will hang from the Zarembo spruce and several other holiday trees stationed around Washington.

And since no one wants to see a needleless Charlie Brown tree on the West Lawn, the U.S. Forest Service worked with a team of Wrangell High School students who devised a watering system to keep the spruce healthy on its barge ride to Seattle and long truck route across the country.

Customizing a system designed by Wrangell resident Brian Ashton for incubation at salmon hatcheries, the students engineered a misting and watering system for the tree’s root wad. Barrels of water, tubing, pumps, filters, a drip pan and a tarp will keep the tree fed as it trucks eastward.

And the tree is not the only Southeast resident heading east: The students who worked on the project will be in D.C. for the tree-lighting ceremony, thanks to the efforts of Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who attended middle school in Wrangell, and donations from Alaska Airlines.

The community does not have to wait for the official lighting ceremony to celebrate.

The tree will be the center of attention this weekend while it is on display near the Nolan Center. The Wrangell Cooperative Association will lead a blessing of the tree at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by live music.

The T3 (Teaching Through Technology) students who put together the watering system will be at the Nolan Center from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday to explain their work.

Good weather for the weekend would be nice, but no one should let a little Southeast rain dampen their spirits to come out and enjoy the celebration. After all, the constant rain helped grow the tree into an award winner for the nation’s capital.

- Wrangell Sentinel