The tree arrived in the bus parking lot of Watauga High School. Students from Watauga were able to see the tree and enjoy food prepared by our Foods classes.
On Tuesday, Nov. 8th, the US Capitol’s chosen Christmas tree made a stop at Watauga High School. Students were able to leave class and celebrate with food and drinks. They also had the opportunity to sign the truck that held the tree.
The truck holding the tree will be making several different stops on its journey to Washington DC, traveling all the way to the coast before making its way to the Capitol.
“Watauga County was selected as one of the official stops for the tree because of our history of agriculture and because of the importance of the Christmas tree industry in Watauga County,” said Watauga County Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Elliot.
Every year the tree is cut from a different national forest. This year it was cut in Pisgah National Forest. The tree is a Red Spruce and stands at 78 feet tall.
“They specifically chose a red spruce to draw attention to the fact that the red spruce is declining throughout the United States,” said Elliot. “There are a lot of different types of trees that could be chosen. But they chose the red spruce in efforts to rehabilitate the population.”
During the process of picking out the tree, they will pick pinecones from it and dry them to create seeds to make new red spruces. They will also use wood from the tree to create instruments for schools.
This is the third time North Carolina has had a Christmas tree delivered to the Capitol, the last time being in 1998. North Carolina has also sent trees to other important destinations.
“Sometimes trees from private farms in the High Country have gone to the White House,” said Elliot.
This event was beneficial to Watauga High School’s publicity. The truck, adorned with the name of the high school and signatures from students and community members on it, will travel all the way to Washington, D.C.
“The tree will be on display all throughout the Christmas season in Washington DC with the truck, so it really brings a lot of positive attention to our school and community,” said Elliot.
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