Holiday tree arrives at Vermont Veterans’ Home

BENNINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A group of veterans from Vermont helped deliver a Christmas tree to the U.S. Capitol in 2007. When they returned, they brought a new tradition to the Vermont Veterans’ Home.

It’s the season of giving and a small group of people are doing a good deed to ring in the holiday spirit.

“The whole purpose behind it is to not forget at Christmas the Vermont veterans,” said Donald Keelan of Arlington, a former lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps who served as a guard at Camp David for President Eisenhower.

Keelan has been growing Christmas trees in his backyard for years now and is honored to donate one of his balsam trees to his fellow veterans at the Vermont Veterans’ Home in Bennington.

“Many of the folks that will be here today are veterans. It’s just our way of making sure that at Christmas they are not forgotten. Along with the tree, we bring 100 and so challenge coins,” Keelan said.

Keelan says this has been a tradition for the last 15 years.

This year, they cut down a 16-foot tree with the help of Vermont state police. State police joined the effort a couple of years back, supplying the big tree with an escort.

Vt. State Police Lt. Steven Coote says around the holidays doing community events for veterans like this is just another way to give back.

“I think this a great opportunity for our troopers and our organization to support folks, to include veterans that have served our country, so admirably, in the Christmas season. We try and be available for them to sit and chat. It’s a nice moment for our troopers. We are just really happy to do it,” Coote said.

Veterans like Quentyn Webb who live at the Vermont Veterans’ Home look forward to this every year.

“It takes people working together to produce the tree. It carries a good Christmas spirit,” Webb said.

The group says next year the event will definitely be put back on the calendar, but maybe next time the tree will be cut a tad shorter.

Copyright 2023 WCAX. All rights reserved.