PRESS RELEASES & MEDIA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                            Contact: Jim Payne 602-525-2940
November 3, 2009                                                                                                    
CAPITOL CHRISTMAS TREE 2009 CUTTING CEREMONY

Springerville, Arizona (November 3, 2009)– The official United States Capitol Christmas Tree will be harvested on November 7, 2009.  A ceremony with White Mountain Apache Dancers, Apache blessing, choral music and Arizona's official historian Marshall Trimble will commemorate the historic event.

WHO:            Ronnie Lupe, Tribal Chairman, White Mountain Apache Tribe
                    Vicki Christiansen, Arizona State Forester
                    Corbin Newman, Southwestern Regional Forester
                    Chris Knopp, Apache-Sitgreaves Nat. Forests, Forest Supervisor
                    Richard Davalos, Capitol Christmas Tree 2009 Coordinator

WHAT:           Capitol Christmas Tree 2009 Cutting Ceremony:

Official cutting of the Capitol Christmas Tree 2009 from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.  The 85-foot tree will tour Arizona and then be delivered to the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. on November 30, 2009.

WHEN:           Saturday, November 7, 2009, 8:30 a.m. MST
                    Media access begins at 7:00 a.m.

WHERE:         Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest - Near Alpine, Arizona
                    Map and directions will be emailed on Wednesday, Nov. 4th

BACKGROUND: For the first time in history, Arizona has been invited to provide the United States Congress with the Capitol Christmas tree.  Placed in front of the Capitol building, Arizona's Gift From The Grand Canyon State is an 85-foot Blue spruce selected from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.  Found in the White Mountains of northeastern Arizona, the tree will travel throughout Arizona November 10 – 19, 2009.  The tour continues across the nation where it is then presented to the United States Congress on November 30, 2009.  The iconic symbol of the holidays will be lit during a ceremony by the Speaker of the House, along with an Arizona schoolchild who has made an ornament for the tree.  For more information, visit http://www.CapitolChristmasTree2009.org/

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