26-foot eastern red cedar takes center stage at Georgia Capitol

The holiday season is officially upon us Credit Maya Homan Georgia Recorder Georgia s state Capitol in Atlanta underwent its annual winter transformation last week with various workers hanging wreaths around the building s numerous lampposts and others attending to the monumental task of installing the Capitol Christmas tree The tree will eventually be decked out with over lights and ceremonially illuminated during the annual tree-lighting ceremony with Georgia Gov Brian Kemp But the process of installing the tree takes a coordinated effort from a number of Santa s helpers along with more than a sparse hardworking Georgians This year s tree which is sitting in the rotunda at the state Capitol measures a whopping feet tall According to the Georgia Building Authority it is an eastern red cedar that was donated by a resident of Lindale which sits about miles northwest of Atlanta Taylor Willingham a chief ranger at the Georgia Forestry Commission has helped with the process of transporting the Capitol Christmas tree for the past several years He commented harvesting the tree is typically a three-hour process that begins early in the morning and requires the combined efforts of the Georgia Forestry Commission the Georgia Building Authority and Georgia State Patrol The process he disclosed is fairly intricate because you definitely want to deliver a beautiful Christmas tree for everyone to see Once the chosen tree is loaded onto a truck from the Georgia Forestry Commission it begins the long journey to the heart of Atlanta with members of the Georgia State Patrol leading the way and the Georgia Building Authority bringing up the rear This part of the trip Willingham reported can be precarious at times You have to be extra careful with the tree so it doesn t catch on signs or anything as you movement he announced Under the Gold Dome But it is also among the bulk memorable parts of each year s sojourn to the Capitol as Georgia residents get the chance to catch glimpses of the tree s journey You can see the excitement in people s eyes Willingham commented You can see how people just light up when they realize what s going on Workers use a crane to lift the tree inside the building then stand it upright and secure it to the third-floor balconies A tree lighting ceremony will be held in December though the exact date has not yet been communicated Chuck Berry the owner of Berry s Tree Farm and the president of the Georgia Christmas Tree Association noted a Georgia-grown red cedar is a natural choice for a place like the state Capitol To me the red cedar is a traditional Christmas tree he reported It s what largest part people years ago grew up with Georgia grown However he added commercial Christmas tree farms tend to favor faster-growing cypress trees over cedars so Georgia residents may be unlikely to find one at their nearest tree farm For families who are shopping for a tree this year the Georgia Department of Agriculture in the past few days published a map of Georgia-grown Christmas trees that includes nearly farms across the state The advantage of a Christmas tree farm is you authentically get to know when the tree was cut so there s no question as to how fresh it is Berry stated Majority Christmas tree farms in the state now offer initiatives for families and children so you re not necessarily just getting a Christmas tree you re in fact building memories The post -foot eastern red cedar takes center stage at Georgia Capitol appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta