BELLINGHAM — A trucking company with roots in Whatcom County will carry the Capitol Christmas Tree from Alaska to the nation’s capital later this year.
Lynden Transport has been chosen to deliver the tree as part of a U.S. Forest Service tradition dating back several decades. The National Park Service manages the National Christmas Tree, which has been displayed at or near the White House since 1923.
“We are proud that we are again being entrusted with the delivery of the tree and supporting the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Tour,” Lynden Transport President Paul Grimaldi said in a statement at the company website.
This year’s Capitol Christmas Tree is an 80-foot Sitka spruce from the Tongass National Forest of Alaska. After it’s cut, it will be moved by barge to Seattle, using Lynden Transport’s “sister company” Alaska Marine Lines, Grimaldi said.
Lynden Transport drivers Fred Austin and John Schank were chosen to make the cross-country haul, delivering the tree to the west lawn of the U.S Capitol. The Capitol tree tradition started in 1964, and the Forest Service took over selection of “the People’s Tree” in 1970.
Schank also delivered the tree in 2015, when Lynden Transport was tapped for the job, hauling a 74-foot Lutz spruce from the Chugach National Forest of Alaska.
Lynden Transport, which now includes a dozen companies, was started as Lynden Transfer in 1906 when 23-year-old Ed Austin started hauling goods from a railway depot to local business using a wagon and a team of horses, according to the company website. As the company expanded, Austin bought a truck in 1921 and started delivering eggs and milk to Seattle.
Now the company carries freight by land, sea and air, with offices in Anchorage and Seattle.
