Fort Wayne will be one of 11 stops when this year°®¶¹app™s U.S. Capitol Christmas tree travels from Alaska to Washington, D.C., officials announced this week.
The massive tree and its U.S. Forest Service escort are scheduled to arrive downtown °®¶¹app“ beside Parkview Field on Brackenridge Street °®¶¹app“ in late afternoon on Nov. 16.
A free event will be held to coincide with the tree°®¶¹app™s arrival. It will feature holiday music and choirs from local high schools. Food trucks will provide hot chocolate, coffee and possibly cookies. And representatives from the Forest Service and various local nonprofits will be handing out information. Visitors who sign a large banner that will accompany the tree will be given one of 10,000 Christmas ornaments crafted by native Alaskan children.
That day also marks the opening of the Parkview Field Holiday Lights. More than a million lights will be on display in a walk-through experience choreographed to holiday music, officials announced this week. The Holiday Lights, which runs through Jan. 4, also includes a train ride and appearances by °®¶¹appœJohnny Claus,°®¶¹app the look-alike cousin of Fort Wayne TinCaps baseball team mascot Johnny TinCap.
Rudy Mahara, the local business owner instrumental in arranging the stopover, has assembled a 15-person committee that is actively seeking sponsorships and donations for the event. Donations will be used to cover costs, including renting a stage and sound equipment for a 20-minute ceremony.
Mahara hopes enough money will be raised to also cover the $10 entry fees for children from a low-income families who wants to experience Parkview Field Holiday Lights. After that, the entrepreneur plans to distribute funds to a local food bank, the Salvation Army and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne.
Donations will be accepted by the Boys & Girls Clubs, which is acting as the financial agent. Checks mailed to the nonprofit or donations made online at should be marked U.S. Capitol Christmas tree and will be deposited into a special fund.
The Nov. 16 event will begin at 4 p.m. and the tree, which will be wrapped in a clear covering, is scheduled to make its appearance at 4:30.
°®¶¹appœThat°®¶¹app™s like when Elvis enters the building,°®¶¹app Mahara said, describing previous crowds°®¶¹app™ excitement at the arrival of what°®¶¹app™s referred to as °®¶¹appœThe People°®¶¹app™s Tree.°®¶¹app
The 4,000-mile journey from Wrangell, Alaska, to the west lawn of the Capitol building will kick off Oct. 30. The three-week trip will begin with a barge ride from Alaska to Oregon and continue by semi-truck across the country.
Darin Watschke was the Forest Service employee designated this year to plan the tree°®¶¹app™s journey to Washington, D.C.
He asked Mahara, his father-in-law, to recommend a location in Indiana where the entourage could pass through. Mahara successfully lobbied for an overnight stop in Fort Wayne.
Marti Wright, a member of the local event organizing committee, said it°®¶¹app™s a happy coincidence that the Forest Service chose a national forest in Alaska to provide this year°®¶¹app™s tree and Mahara°®¶¹app™s son-in-law is stationed in the federal agency°®¶¹app™s Alaska office.
A tree from one of America°®¶¹app™s 154 national forests has been displayed at the Capitol for each of the last 54 years. During that time, the evergreen°®¶¹app™s entourage has never stopped in Indiana.
°®¶¹appœAll the stars aligned,°®¶¹app Wright said of this year.
