Holiday Celebrations Underway in D.C. (photos)
By • November 30, 2017 0 1660
The Christmas holiday season began in the District of Columbia the week after Thanksgiving weekend with the arrival of the Capitol Christmas Tree, the opening of the U.S. Botanic Garden’s “Season’s Greenings” display and various tree lighting ceremonies, such as the one at CityCenterDC.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service provides a tree each year from a different state for the tree lighting at the U.S. Capitol. On Monday, Nov. 27, a 79-foot Engelmann spruce completed its 3,400-mile journey to the Capitol West Lawn by truck from the Kootenai National Forest in northwest Montana. The 80-pound copper star that will top the tree and the ornaments that will spruce it up (so to speak) are handmade and come from different parts of the Big Sky State. This year’s lighting ceremony will take place Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 5 p.m.
This year’s Christmas show at the U.S. Botanic Garden features plant-based recreations of American roadside attractions, such as Colorado’s hot-dog-shaped Coney Island Hot Dog Stand, South Dakota’s Corn Palace and New Jersey’s Lucy the Elephant. Added to the permanent collection of D.C. landmarks made entirely from plant materials is a botanical version of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
CityCenterDC held its fourth annual holiday tree lighting Saturday, Nov. 24, with performances from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., and the Cardinal Shehan School Choir from Baltimore. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans were on hand to light the 75-foot tree. NBC 4’s Eun Yang emceed the event.
View Jeff Malet’s photos by clicking on the photo icons below.
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- D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and District Council member Jack Evans attend the tree lighting ceremony at CityCenterDC (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Taylor Henderson of the Cardinal Shehan School Choir from Baltimore entertains at CityCenterDC (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Ashton Ackert (6 months) of Alexandria Va. celebrates his first Christmas at CityCenterDC (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Posing in front of the CityCenterDC tree are Christian Becker, Assistant Director of Marketing at real estate developer Hines; Timothy R. Lowery, General Manager of CityCenterDC, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Councilman Jack Evans. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Palmer Alley at CityCenterDC. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- The Capitol Christmas Tree is installed on the Capitol West Lawn (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Larry Spiekermeier drove the truck carrying the 2017 tree for two weeks, starting from Kootenai National Forest in northwestern Montana. making 20 stops along the way. Spiekermeier lives in Plains, Montana, with his wife, Mary Ann, who rode along for 900 miles. He works for Whitewood Transport. He has 1.6 million accident-free miles. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- The Capitol Christmas Tree is installed on the Capitol West Lawn (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Rick Prince, who works for the Architect of the Capitol, aligns the 80-pound copper star atop the 79-foot tree. The star is made primarily from copper mined in Montana. Photo by Jeff Malet.
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- US Dept. of Agriculture: Christopher S Savage (Forest Supervisor, Kootenai National Forest) and Babete Anderson (National Press Officer) (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Ted Bechtel, the superintendent of the U.S. Capitol Grounds (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- At the Botanic Garden’s Christmas display, “Season’s Greenings”, sycamore leaves were used to create the roof shingles of the Smithsonian Castle. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- The collection of D.C. landmarks, like the U.S. Capitol Building, made from plant materials fill the Garden Court,. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Maree, Jonathan (3) and Bonnie (5) Ray of Totonto Ont. look on. In the 2017 model train show, the trains will chug around, below, through, and above plant-based recreations of iconic roadside attractions like Texas’ Cadillac Ranch, Colorado’s hot-dog-shaped Coney Island Hot Dog Stand, South Dakota’s Corn Palace, New Jersey’s Lucy the Elephant, and many more. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Francia Socket of Old Greenwich Conn. poses with the Jolly Green Giant (Minnesota) at the U.S. Botanic Garden (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- The unique building replicas like that of the Lincoln Memorial were constructed by a designer and landscape architect who studied architectural drawings and photographs and created them out of acrylic foam boards adding dried plant materials. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Added to the permanent collection of D.C. landmarks made entirely from plant materials is a botanical version of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Colorado’s hot-dog-shaped Coney Island Hot Dog Stand. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Welcome to Las Vegas sign is one of the “Roadside Attractions” appears among the cactus display at the U.S. Botanic Garden. (photo by Jeff Malet)
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- Florist Paul Brockway from Conklyn’s Flowers in Arlington, Virginia, hands out free Christmas bouquets in front of the Capitol. (photo by Jeff Malet)
