Nov. 17, 2011

Capitol Campus Update

The state holiday tree, the evergreen that adorns the Capitol Building rotunda each year, will arrive on the Capitol Campus on Nov. 21. The tree will be set up in the rotunda that day, but the decorating won’t be finished until later in the week.

Port Blakely Tree Farms of Tumwater is donating this year’s tree, a nearly 30-foot-tall noble fir cut from the company’s tree farm near Morton.

The annual public tree lighting ceremony, sponsored by the Association of Washington Business (AWB), is scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 2.

For more than 20 years, AWB has been sponsoring the Holiday Kids’ Tree Project, in which AWB members and private individuals provide toys, food and other contributions that are distributed to needy families in rural parts of the state by firefighters from Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Thurston, Grant, Walla Walla and Spokane counties.

This year’s tree will be decorated with 5,000 new LED lights. AWB pays for the lights, decorations and tree.

The tree is being set up earlier than normal because of the special legislative session, which begins on Nov. 28.

The Department of Enterprise Services maintains the Capitol Campus, including the grounds and buildings.

For more information about other campus events and activities: https://apps.des.wa.gov/CampusEvents/default.aspx.