Julie Fosbender twinkled just like Santa when she spied the guy with the notebook regarding all that trailer, and all that tree, Friday morning at 84 Lumber in Sabraton.
“You should see it when it’s not in there,” the recreation manager with the Monongahela National Forest said.
She has – the 63-foot Norway spruce therein, that is.
Fosbender was there on that snowy Saturday last week when the tree was harvested from the forest and its 921,000 acres – a giant tree for a giant expanse that blankets valleys and tops the ridges of the Allegheny and Appalachian Mountain ranges in eastern West Virginia.
Pretty soon, all of America will get to regard the tree in its full Yuletide glory.
That’s because this tree, is the People’s Tree.
The towering spruce with the Mountain State roots is currently enroute to Washington, D.C., where it will adorn the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for the holiday season. The tree will be lit Nov. 28.
Meanwhile, it’s making the rounds in West Virginia.
There have already been stops in Wheeling, Marlinton, Elkins, and other locales on the circuit to the District of Columbia.
Friday’s stop at 84 Lumber in Sabraton was a marquee choice, in that this is the second year in a year the building materials chain headquartered in Eighty-Four, Pa., has served as its presenting sponsor.
“We are honored to be a part of the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree initiative, which provides the opportunity to celebrate the spirit of the season and brings our great country together during the holidays,” owner and CEO Maggie Hardy said previously.
“The People’s Tree” is a national treasure and 84 Lumber and our associates nationwide are proud to help bring the tree to Washington, D.C., to be enjoyed by everyone.”
Unwrapping it
Hardy was unable to attend a media event Friday morning at the Sabraton store, but plenty of other people did.
There were local lawmakers and letters read on behalf of West Virginia lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
There were the West Virginia-based foresters, such as Fosbender and Kelly Perrine, who climbed high on a ladder to sign that big banner on the side of that big trailer holding the tree.
“Jingle Bell Rock,” the Christmas radio staple, poured out from the sound system in a pavilion that included a buffet of bacon, eggs and pastries from Nemacolin, the luxury resort in Fayette County, Pa., also owned by Hardy.
It was a morning of Christmas lights, Christmas cheer and, of course, that big tree.
There was also a big check to go with the big tree. That came by way of a $100,000 donation 84 Lumber made to Huntington’s Fisher House in honor of Veterans Day.
Fisher House is a global program that offers free lodging for families of those who served.
Families stay for in custom-built homes located near major military and VA medical centers across the U.S., Germany, and the United Kingdom.
West Virginia’s lone house is located in Huntington, next door to the Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center.
The house was built by craftsmen from 84 Lumber.
“This means so much to us and to our military families,” house manager Jason Wyant said. “It means so much to our community.”
(Re) gifts – that keep on giving
The tree isn’t done in Morgantown.
In keeping the Veterans Day mission, it’s temporarily taking root today from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Operation Welcome Home, the Mylan Park-based agency that helps veterans transition to civilian life.
After that, it will plant itself in downtown Morgantown, where people can have a look and sign its banner from 2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., on High Street.
Wyant’s talk of community, in the meantime, took bloom with Shawn Cochran, who serves as supervisor of the Monongalia National Forest.
Cochran appreciates the resurgence of visitors to the forest – even if took a pandemic to get them out there.
“It was a chance for people to get away from all that,” he said.
He appreciates that the People’s Tree comes from public land, he said.
And while the tree was harvested, he said, its branches will still carry a long reach – well after the holiday. Trees, the supervisor said, are a renewable resource and the Monongahela National Forest is an enduring place.
“It is about community and connecting to something greater than ourselves,” he said.
Once the holidays are done, the tree will be chain-sawed, with its wood going to the Shawnee Tribe for use at its ceremonial grounds in White Oak, Okla.
The tree, in fact, also carries a Shawnee name: “Wa’feem’tekwi” – or “wa-thame-tech-we,” phonetically.
Translation: “Bright Tree.”
Fosbender brightened when she talked about the 14,000 ornaments that will be on the tree.
“All from recycled materials,” she said.
“All made by West Virginians. How about that?”
