Cue Bing Crosby, candy canes, gifts and hot chocolate, because it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the B.C. Legislature, where the annual Christmas tree is now on display.
On the rainy morning of Nov. 26, a group of lumberjacks and legislative staff worked together to unload a 30-foot-tall grand fir from a trailer into the capital building’s lower rotunda.
Donated by the Saanichton Christmas Tree Farm since 1985, Eric Stringer said he and his team sourced the tree from their land near Shawnigan Lake.
Stringer, who has been responsible for delivering the past five trees, said he had his eye on this one for the past year while walking the farm.
“This one was grown more in the open, so that’s why it’s nice and bushy,” he said. “It wasn’t compressed up against other trees, which tends to make them flat-sided.
“It’s hard to get a really well-shaped tree, but this one, over the last two years, we were looking at it and said, ‘Yeah, that’s probably a good candidate’.”
While families often select spruce or pine trees, Stringer said the grand fir is preferred by his team for its density, height and rich scent.
Known as fast growers when conditions are right, grand firs can, with enough water and space, grow up to nine metres within 15 years.
Although bringing the tree into the building went smoothly, Stringer said the real challenge came 24 hours earlier, getting it from where it fell to the trailer.
“It took us all day,” he said, adding that it required a team of five people – and a dog. “It was in a very difficult place to get at because there’s a lot of brush.
“You can only move the tree a foot or two at a time before you have to rest.”
Before the joyful eyes of a small crowd, the tree was finally erected, reaching up through the rotunda’s second floor.
For facility manager Surjit Dhanota, this tree is one of the finest he has seen in his 30 years of service at the Legislature.
“I’m not an expert, but by looking at it, we got the best tree this year,” he said with a smile. “It’s beautiful, it’s dense, and its branches will give us enough room to hang decorations.”
Thanking the Fleming family for their enduring donation, Dhanota explained that the tree will sit for a full day to allow its branches to settle, after which both the day crew and the night crew will begin work on the tree.
Taking approximately four hours to decorate, Dhanota added that the tree will be ready in time for the Light Up event – a nationwide ceremony where parliament buildings are lit to mark the beginning of the holiday season – on the night of Nov. 28.
Kicking off at 6:30 p.m., Dhanota extended the invitation to all B.C. residents. The admission-free celebration, hosted by the Speaker of the House, will feature family-friendly activities, a choir, hot beverages, and the official light switch, adding red and green to the legislature’s customary white lights.
For more information on the event, visit leg.bc.ca/visit/programs-and-events/special-programs.