It may be August, but for The Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce holiday cheer is in the air. The chamber got an early Christmas present when it learned Poplar Bluff will one of the stops for a truck carrying the 2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree.
The whistle-stop will occur the day before Thanksgiving during the tree's journey from the Kootenai National Forest in Montana to Washington, D.C., where it will be displayed on the Capitol lawn. People can view the tree from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Nov. 22 on the Menards parking lot.
Chamber of Commerce President Steve Halter has been working to organize the visit for several months and said he is excited for the unique opportunity it brings to the area.
"To my knowledge, this tree has never been through Poplar Bluff," Halter said. "We are always looking for exciting things to bring to Poplar Bluff that will entice people to visit our community."
The public will have approximately 1 1/2 hours to view the traveling topiary, as the schedule states a firm 12:30 p.m. departure time.
Prior to its arrival in Poplar Bluff, the tree will be displayed at Bass Pro Headquarters in Springfield, Mo., and will travel to its next stop in Paducah, Ky., later in the afternoon.
Halter said special events benefit local commerce and hopes people from surrounding towns take advantage of the opportunity to check out Poplar Bluff's recent growth just in time for the holiday season.
"I believe it will draw a lot of people to our area, which will be great exposure and hopefully they will shop, eat and stay," Halter said. Also known as "The People's Tree," the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree has been a national tradition since 1964 when Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John W. McCormick placed a living tree on the Capitol lawn. The tree reportedly lived for three years before suffering root and wind damage rendering it unsustainable.
In 1970, the Capitol Architect asked the U.S. Forest Service to provide a Christmas tree, and since then a different national forest has been selected each year to provide a tree for display at the nation's capitol.
The 2016 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, an Engelmann Spruce, was provided by the Payette National Forest in Idaho. The last Capitol Christmas tree to hail from Montana was a Subalpine Fir from the Bitterroot National Forest in 2008. The species of this year's tree has not yet been announced.