“They said it couldn’t be done!”

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo) joined in celebrating the completion of more than 5,000 ornaments to decorate the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.  Wyoming residents, school children, and other community volunteers hand-made all of the ornaments that will eventually hang from the official Capitol tree and other Wyoming trees decorated in Washington.  

“They said it couldn’t be done!,” Barrasso said.  “Like our tree, it was a tall order.  But we did it and Wyoming should be very proud of all of the hard work that went into making these ornaments.  The ornaments highlight Wyoming creativity, craftsmanship and pride.  I look forward to seeing all of them displayed prominently in front of the U.S. Capitol very soon.”

Ornaments for the tree are supposed to reflect this year’s theme, “Wyoming: Forever West.” They were encouraged to be crafted from as much native and recycled material as possible. Two of the best examples of this creativity came from students in Laramie and Riverton.

Laramie High School students, with the help of shop teacher Shawn Dovey and Medicine Bow National Forest Visitor Information Receptionist Dianne Brown, created ornaments using bark beetle stained wood.  Bark beetles, which have infested Wyoming’s forests, leave behind a blue stain in the trees they infest. The students were able to use the beetle stained wood to cut and carve all kinds of ornaments.

In Riverton, Nancy Allen, an art teacher for Aspen Park and Jackson Elementary Schools, also helped her students design unique ornaments for the tree.  Mrs. Allen collected 182 ten inch ice cream lids from Yellowstone National Park.  The children decorated them with pictures of wildlife and outdoor scenery.  They were even able to incorporate some of the sand from the recent spring floods in Riverton to decorate the ornaments. 

This is the first time ever that Wyoming will provide the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.  For the larger tree that will be on display outside the U.S. Capitol, ornaments had to be close to a foot long.  Wyoming will also provide several smaller trees that will be displayed in other federal offices in Washington, D.C. that needed smaller ornaments.   
 

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