Whitehouse Christmas Tree: 2003

White House Selects Blue Room Christmas Tree

ST. LOUIS - (October 10, 2003) - A beautiful Fraser fir tree from Wisconsin will be the Official White House Christmas Tree this season.

The Blue Room Christmas Tree will be officially presented to Laura Bush on December 1 by Jim and Diane Chapman, owners of Silent Night Evergreens in Endeavor, WI. The Chapmans earned this honor by winning the National Christmas Tree Association's (NCTA) national Christmas Tree contest and becoming Grand Champions.

This will be the second time that the Chapmans will have a tree in the White House. The Chapmans are not the only people to repeat as Grand Champions, though it is a rare honor for someone to win twice. In the 37-year history of the contest, they are only the sixth growers to repeat as winners of the national contest.

Excellence has become a tradition with the Chapman family. Not only have Jim and Diane won NCTA's Christmas Tree contest twice, but Diane's parents, Irv and Alyce Daggett, were also Grand Champion Christmas Tree farmers. They had the honor of presenting a Christmas Tree to Nancy Reagan in 1988.

The national contest won by the Chapmans was held in Grand Rapids, Mich. To win the national contest, they first had to win their state association competition. The Chapmans competed against approximately 25 trees at the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Association's contest to become eligible to take a tree to the nationals. To become national Grand Champions, they then had to beat 27 other entries at the NCTA Biennial Convention. They entered a balsam fir in the national competition.

"The holidays are about family and tradition and a traditional Christmas begins with a Real Tree," says Diane. "That's why it is such a great honor to have this opportunity to represent the Real Christmas Tree industry and share great Real Tree experiences with the First Family and the people of the United States of America."

Jim and Diane have been members of NCTA since they began selling Christmas Trees in 1986. Silent Night Evergreens farm encompasses about 650 acres of Christmas Trees. They started planting trees in 1977 and now harvest around 30,000 trees annually. They wholesale the trees to retailers throughout the Midwest.

The Blue Room Christmas Tree was hand picked by White House Chief Usher Gary Walters, Superintendent of Grounds Irv Williams, and Grounds Foreman Mike Lawn on October 9. The tree will be cut in late November and sent to Washington, D.C.

"We were hoping they would pick the Fraser fir that they did," said Diane. "It was a tree that Jim has closely monitored for several years as a possible White House tree." In the end, it was the tree that stood out to the scrutiny and examination of the White House staff responsible for selecting the tree that serves as the centerpiece to the White House holiday decorations. "This tree will serve as an excellent example of the kind of love, dedication and hard work we put into our trees here at the farm," said Jim.

The presentation to the White House is currently scheduled to take place on December 1, 2003. The tree will be set up in the Blue Room later that day, where it will be decorated by the White House Floral Department staff and volunteers.

Members of the National Christmas Tree Association have presented the official White House Christmas Tree for display in the Blue Room since 1966. For Real Christmas Tree selection and care tips, or to find a Christmas Tree farm or lot in your area, visit RealChristmasTrees.org.

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