National Christmas Tree, which came from York area, toppled by wind
Saturday's high winds knocked down the National Christmas Tree, which had stood near the White House since it came from York County in 1978, The (Washington) Post reported.
"At about 10:55 a.m. -- with sustained winds of 25 miles per hour and 50 miles per hour sustained gusts that were highly unusual for Washington, D.C. -- the National Christmas Tree was toppled," National Park Service spokesman Bill Line told The Post. "No one was hurt."
The Colorado blue spruce that was planted on the Ellipse came from William E. and Helen Myers' home in Shiloh, according to "Never to be Forgotten" by James McClure. The tree, which had been planted in the family's front yard as a Mother's Day gift 15 years earlier, stood 30 feet tall when it was sold to the Park Service.
When it fell Saturday, the spruce stood nearly 42 feet tall. There would be no saving it -- it was scheduled to be mulched, The Post reported.
"I would say we're sad, but we knew this would happen," Line told The Post, noting that the previous two National Christmas Trees were also felled by winds.
When interviewed in the early 1990s, Myers said he delighted in the annual display of lights on his former tree.
". . . today I feel good when I see the tree lit for Christmas," Myers told the York Daily Record. "So many more people can see the tree now than they ever could on our front yard."
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