The People’s Tree: U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree visits Renton

On Nov. 6, the city of Renton was gift-wrapped the only Washington state stop on the 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree tour — as an enormous Sitka spruce rolled into town, expertly parking at the Gene Coulon Boat Launch.

Officially beginning at 4:30 p.m., folks arrived from all over the Puget Sound to see the 74-foot tree when it arrived in Renton at 5 p.m., enjoying informational booths from the National Forest Service, Kenworth, Renton’s Parks and Recreation Department and various food trucks (along with free hot chocolate) during the wait.

The tree, which traveled all the way from the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, was hauled with a Kenworth truck by Lynden Transport drivers John Schank and Fred “Gene” Austin, who have driven a combined 10 million miles in their long careers as truckers. This was Schank’s second time getting to drive the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree across the country and Austin’s first.

Austin, 89, was greeted by several family members when the truck came to a stop in the boat launch parking lot. While others flanked the trailer holding the tree, permanent markers in hand to add their messages and signatures to the sides, the Austin family held up signs and welcomed their beloved uncle and great-uncle.

“Our family is so proud, it is an honor for Gene to drive the tree to D.C.,” said Jennifer Owen of Puyallup, who texts her great-uncle all the time. “He’s just so casual and nonchalant about it.”

Austin, who currently lives in North Pole, Alaska, told The Reporter that he has been trucking for 71 years and that it was “cool” to be chosen to haul the tree, but that all of the attention he has received (and will receive as the tree makes its way across the country) will soon pass.

“Fame goes away, it’s fleeting, and that’s the way it should be,” said Austin.

Local politicians, sponsor representatives and big names in American forestry were also present to the see the traveling Christmas tree, including Smokey the Bear, U.S. Congressman Adam Smith and Renton Mayor Armando Pavone, who gave a brief speech to the crowd.

“The tree takes a 4,000 mile journey from Alaska to Washington, D.C., and we’re proud that Renton is the only stop in Washington,” said the mayor.

During the 2024 tour, the tree’s stops include Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland before finding its destination on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol building. Also known as “The People’s Tree”, the tradition of a Capitol Christmas Tree began 60 years ago in 1964, when a Pennsylvania Douglas fir was chosen. Since 1970, the U.S. Forest Service has provided the tree, with the only Washington state trees being chosen from the Olympic National Forest in 2006 and the Colville National Forest in 2013.

For more information on The People’s Tree, visit uscapitolchristmastree.com.