Oregon will provide the 2018 Capitol Christmas Tree from Willamette National Forest

Not to be sappy, but it's Oregon's time to shine.

The U.S. Forest Service announced Friday in Sweet Home that Oregon has been selected to provide the 2018 United States Capitol Christmas Tree.

The tree will come from the Sweet Home Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest. It, along with 70 smaller companion trees and 10,000 ornaments, will travel to Washington D.C. later this year.

The public tree-lighting ceremony will be held in early December.

Mayor Greg Mahler said that it's fitting the tree would come from Sweet Home, which has been part of the Tree City USA program for 31 years.

"Having a Capitol Christmas Tree from Sweet Home is really a tribute to our roots, a representation of what Sweet Home was built on," he said.

The Capitol Tree will sit on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building, and the additional trees will be used to decorate government buildings and other public spaces.

Want to be part of the picking process? Go out to the Sweet Home Ranger District and start searching. 

The perfect tree is going to be 65 to 85 feet in height, conical in shape, have a straight stem, uniform branching and rich in color.

Nikki Swanson, a ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, said that the best place to look for trees would be an open area or near roads.

"We need to have room for a 75-foot truck and two cranes to be able to take the tree down," she said. 

They hope to have all nominations by May, according to Swanson. Architects from the Capitol will come in July to choose between six to 12 candidate trees. The winning tree will most likely be cut down in early November.

To submit a candidate tree, send a photo and GPS/location information of the tree to the Sweet Home Ranger District, CCT Candidate Tree Submission, 4431 Highway 20, Sweet Home, Oregon 9738, or send it by email to capitolchristmastree2018@gmail.com with the subject "CCT Candidate Tree Submission."

To honor the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System Act and the 175th commemoration of the Oregon Trail, the theme of the 2018 Capitol Christmas tree is "Find Your Trail!"

In recognition of the two anniversaries, the Capitol Christmas Tree will travel eastward from Oregon on the reverse path of the Oregon Trail before heading to the Capitol.

A different national forest has been chosen to provide a tree each year since 1970 by the U.S. Forest Service. The last time the Capitol Christmas Tree came from Oregon was 2002.

Will Tucker, Linn County Commissioner, said it's a great honor to have a tree come from Linn County. He hopes that as the tree travels to DC, it will tell Oregon's story.

"I am excited that we are going to be able to see this tree all the way from our forest," he said. "We're going to parade it through town, we're going to drive it through Oregon."

Oregonians will have the chance to make handmade ornaments that celebrate the culture, history, people and landscapes of the state. 6,500 4 to 6-inch ornaments, 3,500 9 to 12-inch ornaments and 75 tree skirts are needed.

Swanson said that there will be sponsored ornament decorating events throughout 2018.

Kick-Off Ornament Making Event

What: Help create some of the 10,000 decorations at the first community ornament making event.

When: 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20

Where: B&G Club of Sweet Home, 890 18th Ave., Sweet Home

Reach out to Abby Luschei at aluschei@statesmanjournal.com or call 503-399-6747 regarding all things entertainment. Follow her on Twitter @abbyluschei or like her Facebook page www.facebook.com/luscheiabby.