Community Corner

See U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree in Allentown Saturday

The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree will make a stop in Allentown on Saturday and be on display from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Mack Trucks Customer Center, 2402 Lehigh Parkway South, Allentown.

By Jack Tobias

Lehigh Valley residents on Saturday will have a chance to see the 88-foot-tall Engelmann spruce that will become the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree.

The tree will be on display from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Mack Trucks Customer Center, 2402 Lehigh Parkway South, Allentown. Santa and Mack the Bulldog will be there, too.

According to a posting on the city of Allentown website, Mack is transporting the tree from the Colville National Forest in Washington state to the U.S. Capitol lawn on a custom-decorated Mack Pinnacle.

Mack is a sponsor of the 2013 Capitol Christmas Tree tour and has provided two Mack Pinnacles to transport the tree and 100 companion trees that will decorate the Capitol.

The tree was harvested near Usk, Wash., Nov. 1 and is making 24 stops, including Saturday's stop in Allentown. It will arrive in Washington, DC Monday (Nov. 25), when it will then be decorated with 10,000 LED lights. The date for the lighting ceremony will be announced by House Speaker John Boehner.

The tradition of the Capitol Christmas Tree began in 1964 with a Douglas fir from Buddies Nursery in Birdsboro, Berks County.

Those unfamiliar with the Mack Trucks Customer Center are advised to enter the address of 11 Grammes Road, Allentown, PA 18103 into their GPS units to lead them to the location and follow signs to the Mack Customer Center.

To get to Grammes Road: If you are coming from the Emmaus area or from Route 309/Interstate 78, go east on Lehigh Street as if you were headed to downtown Allentown, then turn left on Vultee Street in the area of Queen City Airport. Vultee eventually merges with Grammes.


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