Have you ever sat back and thought about the life of a tree in the Upper Peninsula?
Times are tough right away, struggling to fight for sun and rain as the taller trees around them dominate the sky. And if they survive? Then there is making it through the wind storms that often pound the forests of the Upper Peninsula, and the snow and the extreme temperatures. Let's not even talk about making it through the multitude of animals that can damage it.
For the lucky trees, they get six inches to a foot of growth a year, reaching for the sky more and more as each year goes by.
Then, one day, they're fully grown, swaying in the wind and enjoying the beautiful nature that the Upper Peninsula has to offer.
But what is left for them? What can they strive for? Do some want to be turned into cabinets in a beautiful new house? Do others hope to be pulp wood to become paper for a student to become more educated with? Are there some that want to be novels? Rifle stocks? Lexus steering wheels?
If so, then there have to be trees out there that want nothing more than to be a Christmas tree for a family to love and smile at each time the lights that are wound around it twinkle. They want to stand proudly and be the symbol of the season that has come to mean so much to so many people.
Out of those trees that strive to become a tannenbaum, there are no doubt those that want to be the most impressive of them all--the Michigan Capitol Christmas Tree.
Not just any tree can have such an honor. The state has some very specific guidelines as they put out the call for nominations each year. The Capitol Christmas Tree has the be a thing of beauty, stretching at least 65 feet into the air and a maximum crown of 30 free and a maximum trunk diameter of 30 inches. In addition, the winner of this coveted contest must be a spruce or a fir. No Charlie Brown Christmas Trees will ever make the cut.
One lucky tree each year is chosen after an exhausting search by the Michigan Association of Timbermen, the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association and the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. And that lucky tree this year? For the eighth straight year, the Capitol Christmas Tree came from the Upper Peninsula.
A 65-foot-tall spruce was chosen by the state to make the 429-mile trip to Lansing to be decorated and lit. It was located in Republic Township, in Marquette County, and donated by Rudy and Ruth Maki of Iron Mountain, who have a camp on the property where the tree was located. They sent in a photo to nominate the tree, which was too far off normal roads to have been discovered by the organizations that conduct the search each year.
The 2010 Capitol Christmas Tree is 68 years old. It barely made the cut with a crown at the bottom at 30 feet wide, and the trunk measuring an impressive 30 inches in diameter.
The tree was cut off the property, located far off the beaten path, Nov. 4 by Jim Carey of Carey Logging and Trucking. Employees from the Upper Peninsula Power Company were there to help, as were students from Republic-Michigamme School.
The tree was tied with ropes to keep the limbs from breaking on its long trip on a flat-bed truck over its long journey that included a trek across the Mackinac Bridge.
When the tree arrived in Lansing, it was lovingly taken care of by Boy Scouts who used pocket knives to free its branches. The Hi-Ball Company of Lansing and state crews set the tree up on Nov. 6.
Come November 19, the tree was lit in an annual ceremony that has more than 150,000 people in attendance. The tree shone with blue lights in front of the Capitol Building while fireworks burst in the crisp night sky above.
People cheered. Kids pointed. All celebrated.
Perhaps dreams do come true, even for a little-known tree from a small Upper Peninsula town.
Sam Eggleston is the managing editor of the U.P. Second Wave and a full-time freelance writer. He was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula. He can be reached via email.
Photograph © Dave Trumpie
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