Haywood County tree en route to U.S. Capitol for Christmas

Nov. 4—A 78-foot red spruce hailing from the high-elevation spruce-fir forests of Haywood County will soon be en route to Washington, D.C., to adorn the lawn of the U.S. Capitol for Christmas.

"We combed the mountainsides of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests looking for just the right tree, and we think Ruby is just that," Pisgah biologist Lorie Stroup said at a tree cutting ceremony held on N.C. 215 just off the Parkway on Wednesday morning.

A crowd of about 100 media and dignitaries gathered for the event, along with dozens of crew members needed to pull off the selection — including lumberjacks, crane operators and truckers.

Rodney Smith, the sawyer who'd be behind the chainsaw at go time, bided his time as a parade of speakers took turns marking the occasion with speeches.

"I have a sprinkling of nervousness, but the honor I've been bestowed with doing this is overshadowing my nervousness so far," said Smith, a Uwharrie National Forest ranger.

Smith and his support crew had gamed their approach to felling Ruby for weeks leading up to the event.

"This is a unique cut, a once-in-a-lifetime cut style," Smith said.

He would start with a V-cut at a 45-degree angle, cut half way through the tree, set wedges, then come in from the other side, also at a sharp angle, stopping just short of cutting through.

"We'll set some more wedges, and I'll let the crane know I am releasing the tree and make the final cut," Smith described.

The biggest danger would be the tree kicking back and hitting him once it was cut clean through, which the V-cuts would hopefully prevent.

"Until they start lifting the tree, it's really not going to be able to move back and forth. And knowing the crane is attached to it give us extra reassurance," Smith said.

Ruby's 1,000-mile journey

After strapping Ruby on to an 80-foot trailer, she took off down the Parkway to Asheville. But she isn't making a beeline to D.C. In mountains-to-sea fashion, Ruby will be hauled to Murphy and then zig-zag the state for 14 days, all the way to Manteo.

Ruby has been tagged with a GPS tracker so the public can follow her progress on the 1,000-mile journey in real-time at Capitoltreetracker.com. Ruby will make stops in communities along the way for well-wishers to see her off.

"There's a big banner on the side of the truck and we encourage people to come sign it, like a Christmas card to America," James Edward Mills, the official photographer of the U.S. Capitol tree's journey. Ruby is the eighth tree that Mills has documented, and it's still just as exciting as his first.

"It never gets old," Mills said.

Before the journey begins, Ruby will be ensconced in cartons with just her top sticking out to protect her precious limbs during transport.

"They are profoundly careful," said Mills.

But just in case of a mishap, spare branches are collected should some window dressing be needed once Ruby is set in place on the Capitol lawn. Holes can be drilled into the trunk to mount a branch here and there in missing spots.

The pomp-and-circumstance following Ruby continues once she arrives in D.C. on Nov. 18.

"A crowd gathers, and two cranes lift it up off the truck and set it down into its tree stand, which is basically a six-foot hole in the ground and they fill it in with concrete and begin decorating it," Mills described.

Ruby clocks in just under the 80-foot maximum height specified by the U.S. Capitol architect.

"The cherry picker literally isn't tall enough if it's much higher than that to put the lights and ornaments on," Mills said.

It takes thousands of ornaments to decorate a tree of Ruby's size. A call went out across the state back in the spring asking the public to contribute handmade ornaments for the cause, netting 12,000 ornaments.

Here in Haywood County, teachers enlisted students to make ornaments as a class project. Little did they know at the time, however, the chosen tree would hail from their own neck of the woods.

Every year since 1970, states have taken turns providing the Capitol Christmas tree — known as the "People's Tree." North Carolina's turn rolls around every 24 years. Most of the states in the rotation are out West.

"The furthest East we've been in the last decade has been Minnesota," Mills said.

Unlike the family Christmas tree that's unceremoniously kicked to the curb come January, Ruby's legacy will live on. Her wood will be used to make musical instruments and hundreds of her cones were collected for a reforestation project. The cones will be propagated into saplings and then planted across the Pisgah and Nantahala.

Where to see Ruby

The first tour stop here in WNC to view Ruby will be from 3-5 p.m. at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center in Fletcher on Nov. 5. Visitors can take a "walk" through an interactive display of the four national forests in North Carolina. There will also be over 25 partner organizations offering fun family-friendly games and U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree merchandise.

On Sunday, the tree will make a stop in Murphy from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. and in Cherokee from 6-8 p.m. On Monday, Ruby will swing by the Pisgah Forest Ranger Station on U.S. 276 in Transylvania County, then continue onward with stops in Newland and Boone on Tuesday before heading into the Piedmont.

For a complete list of times and stops, visit www.uscapitolchristmastree.com.