Washington, D.C

Fairbanksans drive National Christmas tree to Washington, D.C.

Published

1 year ago

November 9, 2024

Fairbanksans drive National Christmas tree to Washington, D.C.

The National Christmas Tree that ends up in Washington D.C. is coming from Alaska this year. Two Fairbanksans are driving a special, extra-long tractor-trailer from Seattle to D.C., after the tree was barged from Wrangell.

John Schank and Fred Austin are driving the Capitol Christmas tree from Washington State to Washington, D.C. They flew from Fairbanks to Seattle on Monday to meet the 74-foot Sitka Spruce that was barged from Wrangell.

“We came, flew down here and picked up a new Kenworth tractor and went to the barge, picked up the tree and the trailer, and now we’re showing it,” said Austin.

The Kenworth company donates a new truck every year for the Capitol tree.

Schank pulled the truck and trailer into a park in Renton, Washington Wednesday night, where there was a party for locals who want to see the tree.

“Well, there’s a lot of people, they have ladders up here, we got felt pens for it, they sign their name, you know, Merry Christmas and blah, blah, blah, where they’re from, etc.”

OK, the ladders are so folks can climb up next to the 85-foot long custom-built trailer that gets used every year to transport each Capitol Christmas Tree. There are already hundreds of signatures on the canvas banner on the truck. Fred Austin says this party is the first of 17 whistle-stop visits they will make on the trip.

Courtesy U.S. Forest Service

A visitor in Renton, Washington signs the canvas cover of the trailer holding the 74-foot Sitka Spruce headed to Washington, D.C.

“And, uh, they’re just people circling around the back of the trailer about 20 feet is plexiglass. So, you can look in and see the tree. It’s got decorations and lights on it, on that part of the tree that you can see. So, they’re going around absolutely enjoying looking at it. And there are maybe one thousand people here.”

Each year, the D.C. tree is chosen from different regions throughout the United States. This year’s Capitol Christmas tree came from the Tongass National Forest, near Wrangell. And it was folks in Wrangell who organized the making of 14,000 ornaments created by schoolkids and adults in Alaska.

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree in front of Wrangell’s Nolan Center during its Harvest Festival on Oct. 26, 2024. The Sitka Spruce is heading to Washington, D.C. for the holiday season.

And it was the high school kids in Wrangell who developed the watering system for the tree. Usually the Capitol tree is cut down, but this one was dug up with some of it’s roots intact. The school’s tech club created a watering system for the tree, including 20 mister nozzles that cycle water onto the root wad.

The tree also made a stop in Ketchikan on its way to the lower-48.

This is the second National Christmas Tree that’s come from Alaska. The first was in 2015, and Austin and Schank drove that one, too. They are used to the tricks required to fit an 85-foot rig into a public park.

“I’ve been driving trucks for 71 years and you get used to doing what you have to do to get everything to fit.”

Oh yeah. Austin is 89 years old. And Schank is 78. But when asked if they could drive what is often called “The People’s Tree,” they weren’t about to say no.

They are also being escorted by officers from the U.S. Forest Service.

You can follow the progress of the National tree at the website: https://www.kenworth.com/tree-tracker

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Washington, D.C

New AAPI-led Jaemi Theatre Company launches in DC

Published

7 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

New AAPI-led Jaemi Theatre Company launches in DC

Jaemi Theatre Company, a new AAPI-led theater company based in Washington, DC, officially launches this spring with its inaugural project, BAAL, a staged reading at the 2026 Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival on Friday, March 6, at 7:30 PM at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.

Jaemi Theatre Company co-founder and playwright Youri Kim

Founded by Artistic Director Youri Kim and Artistic Associate Juyoung Koh, Jaemi Theatre was born out of a recognition that DC, one of the largest theater markets in the United States, had no company dedicated to centering Asian stories or led by Asian artists. The name “Jaemi” comes from a Korean word meaning “fun,” and in its Sino-Korean form, 在美, means both “to live in America” and “to live in beauty.”

“I kept hearing from companies that it was hard to find Asian actors, and I heard it so often that I started to believe it myself,” said Youri Kim. “But through building community with other AAPI theater artists in the area, I realized the talent was always here. What was missing was the infrastructure to connect us. Jaemi is that infrastructure.”

BAAL, an original work written by Youri Kim (not to be confused with Bertolt Brecht’s 1918 play of the same name), is a body horror drama set in a dystopian city where the air is toxic and birth is outlawed. In the city of Baal, citizens are forced into an impossible choice: terminate or sacrifice a family member. The play uses the language of biological mutation and bodily control to examine how systems of power decide who gets to exist and on what terms, questions that resonate deeply within AAPI and immigrant communities navigating structures that seek to define, contain, and assimilate them. The staged reading features a cast of seven and an original sound design.

BAAL plays as a staged reading Friday, March 6, 2026, at 7:30 PM in Lab Theatre II at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St NE, Washington, DC). Tickets ($29.75) are available online.

Looking ahead, Jaemi Theatre plans to host a founding party and fundraiser this fall, and will launch an Asian Writer Play Submission program in the second half of 2026. The program will pair playwrights from selected Asian countries with Asian playwrights based in DC for a workshop development process, building a pipeline that connects diasporic voices across borders.

For more information, visit yourikimdirector.com or follow @jaemitheatre on Instagram.

About Jaemi Theatre Company
Jaemi Theatre is a newly formed AAPI-led performance initiative based in Washington, DC, co-founded by Artistic Director Youri Kim and Artistic Associate Juyoung Koh. “Jaemi” is Korean for “fun” and, in its Sino-Korean form, means “to live in America” and “to live in beauty.” The company creates interdisciplinary performance rooted in diasporic imagination and radical storytelling. Jaemi is a home for the unfinished and the unassimilated, where performance holds contradiction without needing to resolve it.

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Washington, D.C

San Francisco Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

Published

19 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

San Francisco Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

Sunday, March 1, 2026 6:36AM

SF Ballet cancels upcoming performances at Kennedy Center

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The San Francisco Ballet board has voted to cancel its upcoming performances at the Kennedy Center.

The company is scheduled for a four-day run in Washington D.C. in May.

Petition urges SF Ballet to cancel Kennedy Center tour stop as company opens 2026 season

Last year, Pres. Donald Trump overhauled the Kennedy Center’s board, including naming himself the chairman.

That led several artists to cancel scheduled performances.

A statement from SF Ballet says the group “looks forward to performing for Washington, D.C. audiences in the future.”

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Washington, D.C

97-year-old World War II veteran honored virtually at home

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

97-year-old World War II veteran honored virtually at home

At 97, Veteran Harley Wero wasn’t up for a trip to the nation’s capital, so volunteers from the Western North Dakota honor flight brought the trip to him. Wero, his wife Muriel and their daughter Jennifer got to experience Washington, DC, without ever leaving their home.

Web Editor : Sydney Ross

Posted 2026-02-28T15:57:08-0500 – Updated 2026-02-28T15:59:05-0500

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