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.

 “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.

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