The towering fir tree from Olympic National Forest that will be lighted and decorated in front of the U.S. Capitol starts its 10-day tour of the state today.

The tour starts at the state capital, and the Capitol Christmas Tree will move up U.S. Highway 101 to Quilcene for a stopover this afternoon.

The tree, on a tractor-trailer, is expected to arrive in Quilcene at 3:15 p.m. for an hour-long visit.

It will be escorted by the Brinnon Fire Department to the Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101.

Speeches are expected by Pat Rodgers, Jefferson County commissioner, and Dean Yoshina, Hood Canal District ranger for Olympic National Forest.

On Tuesday, it will arrive in Port Angeles, where it will be greeted with song, and later in Forks, where it will be blessed by a Quileute dance.

The 65-foot-tall Pacific silver fir was harvested from the headwaters of the Wynoochee River, approximately 35 miles north of Montesano, in Olympic National Forest last Wednesday.

After its tour of the state on the 90-foot truck bearing two banners created by Port Angeles company ASM Signs, the tree will be trucked to Washington, D.C.

There, it will be displayed on the west lawn of Capitol Hill, facing the Washington Monument.

Olympia ceremony

Today, before it heads first to Shelton and up the Hood Canal coast, the tree will be celebrated at a ceremony in the rotunda of the Legislative Building in Olympia.

Included in the Olympia kick-off ceremonies this morning with Gov. Chris Gregoire will be a drawing for the name of the one student out of about 3,000 who will win a trip to see the tree lighted in the nation’s capital on Dec. 6.

The drawing includes the names of the students in kindergarten through 12th grade who donated handcrafted ornaments to decorate the tree.

Quilcene 4-H members are among those who donated ornaments — 34 of them.

The 3,000 ornaments made by students will be placed either on the tree itself or on 65 companion trees donated by state tree farmers.

The companion trees will be displayed in such government offices as the Supreme Court, Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior, National Arboretum and the Senate.

Parked overnight

After leaving Quilcene, the tree will be parked outside Port Angeles tonight at a location kept secret for security purposes, while a law enforcement official sleeps nearby.

The tree will not stop in either Port Townsend or Sequim.

The tree will roll into Port Angeles at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

It will be parked near the Vern Burton Community Center on Fourth Street, between Peabody and Lincoln streets, until 10:30 a.m.

Mayor Karen Rogers and City Council members will welcome the tree.

Jefferson Elementary School fifth-grade students and a choir from Roosevelt Middle School will sing.

The Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce will provide hot chocolate, coffee and a chance to sit with Santa Claus.

The event’s sponsor is the Lavender Connection of Sequim, which will have a booth.

On to Forks

Later in the day, the tree will have a police escort into Forks.

It is due at the Forks Transit Center, 551 S. Forks Ave., at 12:30 p.m.

About 30 children from the Quileute Tribal School in LaPush will sing songs and perform a tribal dance, said Pat Soderlind, Forks events coordinator.

The dance is a way to bless the tree so it has a safe journey to the Capitol, said Soderlind.

Preschoolers from the Sunshine and Rainbows daycare in Forks will also attend.

The tree then will head down U.S. Highway 101 to Amanda Park, arriving there at 4 p.m. Tuesday for an overnight stop.

Tree’s itinerary

The tree will go to Aberdeen and Hoquiam on Wednesday, then be trucked east, arriving in Spokane on Nov. 10.

After a tour of central Washington, it will arrive in Seattle on Nov. 15 where the more than 2,000-mile-long trek to the Capitol will begin.

The evergreen is due Nov. 26 in Washington, D.C.

Along with the students’ ornaments, it will be decorated with 10,000 lights.

It is to be lighted for the first time at 5 p.m. on Dec. 6 by House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and each night through Jan. 2.

Oregon provided the Capitol tree in 2002 and Idaho in 2003.

The 2004 tree came from Virginia.

In 2005, it was grown in New Mexico.

The Capitol Christmas tree is not to be confused with the National Christmas tree, which is planted near the White House and lighted by the president and first lady.

For more information, visit www.capitolchristmastree2006.org.