Projo Politics Blog

Christmas Eve was not a merry time in the State House.

There were no family dinners, no Christmas carols. And state workers were on ladders in the rotunda, dismantling the state Christmas tree.

They had stripped the tree of nearly all its ornaments by 10 a.m. The lights were removed by early afternoon.

“A lot of the small [trees] we’re leaving up,” said the State House building superintendent, Salvatore “Sam” DeVincenzo, who was overseeing the “de-trimming” operation Monday morning.

Political Scene learned that the naked tree was removed from the State House the day after Christmas and stuffed into a Department of Transportation wood chipper.

“Nobody was rushing to get it down for any particular reason other than people were available that day,” said the governor’s spokeswoman, Barbara Trainor. “And they were rushing to set up for the session.”

DeVincenzo noted there was an unusually tight window in which to remove the tree, which was set in the middle of the staircase leading up to the House and Senate chambers. The Assembly opens for business tomorrow afternoon.

“It happened funny this year,” DeVincenzo said. “All the reps and senators are back in next week.”

The governor’s office was adamant that the tree had no health problems. “Nothing was wrong with the tree,” Trainor said.

The health of the state Christmas tree has been an issue in recent years. In 2005, a flame-retardant spray left the State House holiday symbol nearly needle-less. This year, the first 18-foot Colorado spruce set in the rotunda was apparently slightly damaged. State workers tried drilling new branches into the trunk, before deciding to replace it.

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