Fresh snow and chain controls on the road leading to the Nation’s Christmas Tree, the General Grant Tree, kept the number of participants in the 82nd annual “Trek to the Tree” event in Kings Canyon National Park below average – but the people who let the snow keep them away missed a truly beautiful day.
Almost 300 people were on hand to sing Christmas carols and share in the honoring of people who have died in service to this country during this hour-long event. A local family that suffered the loss of two of their sons in the war with Iraq received a special presentation from the city of Sanger, California, during the event.
Colleen Bathe, chief of interpretation and cultural resources, read a letter from President Bush for the event and remarked about how proud the National Park Service is to be chosen by the First Lady as the theme for the White House Christmas tree. Sequoia and Kings Canyon each sent an ornament to the White House for the occasion.
The General Grant Tree was designated as the “Nation's Christmas Tree” by President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, and established as the only living National Shrine in 1956 to honor those who gave their lives in service to their country. Each year in addition to the ceremony organized and conducted by the Sanger Chamber of Commerce, the National Park Service places a large wreath at the base of the General Grant Tree to memorialize those who died serving this country by. This year’s wreath was placed by Colleen Bathe, and rangers Tracy Thetford and Alysia Schmidt.
This year’s event will be featured on the California Report on National Public Radio later this week and appeared prominently in several local newspapers.
