Tree in the rain

Under cloudy and smoky skies last week, Capitol groundskeepers stayed on schedule decorating the Capitol’s Christmas tree. When all is said and done, employees with the Dept. of General Services’ Facilities Management Division will have hung more than 10,000 ultra-low wattage LED lights on the 65-foot white fir standing in front of the West Steps. As of Wednesday, the top half of the tree was decked with lights. DGS and Cal Fire harvested the tree from Latour Demonstration State Forest in Shasta County earlier this month in preparation for the 87th annual tree-lighting ceremony, which is scheduled for 5 p.m. Dec. 6. The ceremony will be the last in the tenure of Gov. Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Gust Brown. At the time of the ceremony, the tree will be decorated with more than 900 ornaments made by children and adults with developmental disabilities. That tradition began in 1983, when Gov. George Deukmejian and the CA Dept. of Developmental Services decided to invite a child with developmental disabilities to hang an ornament and “flip the switch” on the lights. This year’s guest helping the Browns is 7-year-old Kiran Dong of Valencia, who has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. DGS spokesperson Jennifer Iida offered some insight into what DGS and Cal Fire are looking for when they scout for a tree each year. “They go by symmetry,” Iida said, adding that crews start searching in September. “They try to look for trees with beautiful branches that are in line, so they don’t have to do a lot of extra pruning of the tree,” she said. After the lights come down and the ornaments are safely stored for next year, the tree will come down and be turned to mulch, spread throughout the various flowerbeds DGS maintains. Contact: Iida 916 376 5015.