Category Archives: Holidays

Introducing the 2013 capitol Christmas tree – it’s real, and it’s spectacular

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Straight from Wisconsin, this beautiful specimen was lit tonight at a ceremony featuring local musicians, some Bible readings, and even some audience participation as we sung a couple of songs as well.  It’ll be up through December 31st and is adorned with ornaments made by ordinary folks and submitted through the North Dakota Council on the Arts.

It was a relief to see that there’s still a real tree in the Memorial Hall of the capitol this year; due to the potential fire hazard of an actual tree there’s mounting concern that may put an end to this tradition in favor of an artificial, non-flammable tree.  That’ll be a sad day when it happens, but I understand that North Dakota doesn’t want to be known for burning down two capitol buildings.

The real Thanksgiving

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Public education teaches us that Thanksgiving was a day in which the poor, helpless, hapless settlers gave thanks to the Indians for saving them from extinction in their new colony. While the settlers did have good relations with native people all around them, and both parties benefited from these friendships, this account of the story is wrong. These colonists set aside a day of thanksgiving to God.

I noticed that even our Dear Leader got it wrong, intentionally or otherwise. Today’s Thanksgiving Day address states, “We give thanks for…people who were already here, our Native American brothers and sisters, for their generosity during that first Thanksgiving.”  As recently as 2011, President Obama’s proclamation on Thanksgiving Day, inaccurately declared that “The feast honored the Wampanoag for generously extending their knowledge of local game and agriculture to the Pilgrims…” but this was not the case.

One only needs to examine the writings of William Bradford, governor of Plymouth, to find the following (which you can read for free on archive.org):

I may not here omite how, notwithstand all their great paines and industrie, and the great hops of a large cropp, the Lord seemed to blast, and take away the same, and to threaten further and more sore famine unto them, by a great drought which continued from the 3. weeke in May, till about the midle of July, without any raine, and with great heat (for the most parte), insomuch as the come begane to wither away, though it was set with fishe, the moysture wherof helped it much. Yet at length it begane to languish sore, and some of the drier grounds were partched like withered hay, part wherof was never recovered. Upon which they sett a parte a solemne day of humilliation, to seek the Lord by humble and fervente prayer, in this great distrese. And he was pleased to give them a gracious and speedy answer, both to thier owne and the Indeans admiration, that lived amongest them. For all the morning, and greatest part of the day, it was clear weather and very hotte, and not a cloud or any signe of raine I to be seen, yet toward evening it begane to overcast, and shortly after to raine, with shuch sweete and gentle showers, as gave them cause of rejoyceing, and blesing God. It came, without either wind, or thunder, or any violence, and by degreese in that abundance, as that the earth was thorowly wete and soked therwith. Which did so apparently revive and quicken the decayed come and other fruits, as was wonderfull to see, and made the Indeans astonished to behold; and afterwards the Lord sent them shuch seasonable showers, with enterchange of faire warme weather, as, through his blessing, caused a fruitfull and liberall harvest, to their no small comforte and rejoycing. For which mercie (in time conveniente) they also sett aparte a day of thanksgiveing. This being overslipt in its place, I thought meet here to inserte the same.

In the grateful and humble spirit in which our nation was founded, I plan for our family to spend this extended weekend giving thanks to God. Yes, there will be football, but only as part of fellowship as we remember and account all for which we can be thankful. We still live in the greatest nation on earth and enjoy the fruits of those principles set forth by the founders of this nation and the God whose providence has been showered upon us for well over two hundred years.

Now that the stores are opening on Thanksgiving Day, I have decreed that nobody in our family will go out shopping on Thursday.  I may do some online shopping on Friday now that retailers are starting to wise up and mirror some in-store deals online.  If you have different convictions than mine, that’s your business.  Have fun.  But I’ve had it with the commercialization of the holidays and choose not to take part.

Classic: So how do those letters and numbers appear in the capitol windows every July 4th, Christmas, and New Year’s Day?

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Monday night some of these windows will be lit up with “4TH” as part of the Independence Day celebration on the front steps of the capitol. Every year the celebration features the music of the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra and finishes with a dramatic fireworks finale. Have you ever found yourself wondering how those numbers or colored Christmas tree shapes appear in the capitol building’s windows every July and December?

That’s where Bill comes in. He works for the Facility Management Division up at the state capitol, and it’s Bill and his crew who oversee the window shade pulling (and opening) to make sure it’s done right.

While Bill can pretty much do this by habit now, he does have an interesting aid: a diagram of the capitol with the relevant squares (the ones to be lit) highlighted. Facility Management and Bill were kind enough to let me tag along for this year’s window shade operation.

Bill has his custodial crew of around thirty people close all the shades on the front of the capitol as well as the east and west sides. The idea is to have the sides completely blacked out for the celebration, with the “4TH” visible only on the front. Once the crew closed all the shades on those three sides, Bill and I roamed the necessary floors and pulled open the shades forming the text.

Some windows are in spacious offices, and some are in pretty tight spots such as narrow supply rooms. Some are in such tough spots that I got to lend my lanky arms to Bill’s aid in order to snag & pull the cord. Because of that, I can lay claim to part of the 4 and (I think) the H!

The whole process took about a half hour, and I don’t think I held up Bill at all. This was an easy one; the letters were small and compact, and only one side is lit. During Christmas there is the complication of colored shades and two sides to do. For New Year’s there are four sides of the building to do. Also, for displays that are left up for more than one night, it’s important to stay on top of things to make sure the right shades are up and down and lights left on.

I originally posted on this a few years ago and wrote an article for the Dakota Beacon as well. Later on the local TV stations picked up on the story, probably around Christmas time when the windows were decorated again. It’s one of those little things that makes Bismarck-Mandan special!

Quite possibly the coolest old photo I’ve ever discovered

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Check this out! I received a copy of this photo yesterday, from the collection of Jim Eastgate, featuring the state capitol building. A friend mentioned that this was taken during Easter. There are MANY noteworthy things about this shot:

– First, it’s a long exposure taken at night. This is obvious because the lit windows are visible and there’s a streak of light on the right side of the photo from a car driving past.

– It’s hard to see in this shrunk-down version, but a string of utility poles runs from the lower left diagonally to the center right of the shot, and I’m not sure if they’re power lines or telephone wires.

– The original capitol building had burned down and the bottom two floors were all that survived. It was suggested to me that you can see it in the center-right portion of the shot, right below the “.com” of the watermark. I’m not sure if that’s true, or if it’s a portion of the Liberty Memorial Building.

– The landscape was far different then, as you can see the road in the foreground and the slope of the hill.

How cool would it be if they still did this every Easter? Hm…

Midnight vigil – from a different angle

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Since I picked up this photography hobby a few years ago, I’ve taken countless photos of the capitol tower…especially over various holidays. I spent most of this Christmas sleeping off a cold/flu bug, but found myself back on my feet late on Christmas Eve. The family was tucked all snug in their beds (I have no confirmation of sugarplum dreams, however) so I decided to head out with my cameras for a little bit.

The sky was perfect, the weather fantastic, and Bismarck appeared to have drifted into a sleepy calm which is sadly uncommon these days. I roamed around for a couple of hours, and even found a new perspective on the capitol’s Christmas attire. Hiking along the walking path to the north, I decided to venture off into the snow a little bit and was rewarded with this shot.

I’m still on the mend from this nasty bug. I don’t think it’s influenza, but whatever it is I don’t recommend trying it. It deprived me of most of my Christmas vacation this year, but it couldn’t take it all.

I wish you a continued Merry Christmas, good health, and a Happy New Year!

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tenuous North Dakota holiday connection

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I’ve been down for the count the past few days, sick and staying in bed with my Netbook and iPod. I happened to come across something extremely painful: an Arnold Schwarzenegger-hosted segment of a “Very Special Christmas” special from 1988. Don’t bother watching it…in fact, I only got through the first thirty seconds of it. What I did see, however, was apparently a champion granny bowler from North Dakota! If you’re a glutton for punishment, you can view the video here:

Notice the misspelling of granny’s town? Sigh. It seems that even when they get North Dakota identified correctly, some sort of other typographical error slips in.

I make no apologies if you watched after the mention of the bowler from “Wanpeton”…you were warned. I’m starting to feel a little better, so rest assured I’ll try to find something more genuinely Christmas-like and far less horrifying than Arnold’s demented television disaster.

Beacon of Christmas spirit, 24,000, and a map reminder

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I’ve been so busy lately, this is the only time I’ve had my cameras out of the bag in recent memory. Work, family, and freelance have kept me hopping, which is why the posting here has been pretty light. I need to be careful or the Christmas season will pass me by! Don’t let the same happen to you if you can help it. This photo happens to be a milestone: it’s photo number 24,000 through my newest camera.

I love the fact that the capitol windows on the north and south sides are decorated with colored shades to celebrate the holiday season. Even better is the fact that we now have enough snow on the ground to technically enjoy a White Christmas! It just wouldn’t be the same without it.

Another reminder: I’ve resurrected last year’s Google Map of Bismarck-Mandan Christmas Lights for this year. I haven’t had a chance to update it, sadly…but hopefully most of the sites on it are still participating. Obviously the Chmielewski House takes the cake.

The link is easy to remember:
www.tinyurl.com/bismarck-mandanchristmaslights.

I wrap up this week with a big live production and some studio time, then hopefully I’ll get a chance to load up the family and go out to investigate the Christmas displays as well!

Could this be the last real Christmas tree in the North Dakota state capitol?

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I arrived at Monday’s tree lighting ceremony just in time for the lights to be turned on – it was almost as if my seat was wired. My family was waiting for me and my youngest boy exclaimed, “You’re just in time, Daddy!” It’s a special event for us, and I’m glad I was able to break away from work just in time to catch the big moment. In speaking with the governor and Mrs. Dalrymple later, though, I caught an interesting tidbit: this may be the last real Christmas tree in the capitol. Say it isn’t so!

Apparently fire code, which I believe is a city issue, is prompting the pressure on the capitol to abandon the idea of a real (i.e., flammable) tree in the Memorial Hall of the state capitol. Personally, I couldn’t be more dismayed by the thought. As I stood in the Hall last night photographing the tree, it occurred to me even as I unpacked my gear how the smell of a REAL tree is so special. Memorial Hall has that nostalgic waft of evergreen, and it would be a shame to abandon it forever.

I don’t know if a final determination has been made yet, but I sure hope that someone at the capitol puts their foot down and insists on keeping the authentic Christmas tree as part of the capitol’s Christmas celebration. The tree is well maintained; it’s under observation; it doesn’t have any lights on it, being lit by spotlights from a distance; and gets plenty of water. I don’t think it presents the hazard some may think it does. Please, say it isn’t so…North Dakota needs to continue with a real Christmas tree!

How they get that enormous Christmas tree into the Capitol each year

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Each Christmas one can see a beautifully adorned and rather huge Christmas tree standing in the Great Hall of the state capitol building. It’s lit at night so that people driving past the front of the building can see it, and the display is readily available for you to visit from around 7:30 am until 5:30 pm each weekday. One can’t help but wonder: how does such a large tree find its way into the capitol building in the first place?

Of course, the direct approach is the most effective. Rather than trying to thread any hallways or turn any corners with the cumbersome tree, it comes right up the front steps and through the revolving doors. Conveniently, the panels these doors are able to collapse and slide out of the way to allow a wide berth for anyone wishing to wrestle a formidably sized conifer through the doorway.

These doors were actually designed to do this; while bringing anything larger than a briefcase through the revolving doors might pose a challenge, these doors are designed to pivot completely out of the way and provide an even wider opening than most conventional doorways.

The tree arrives on a flatbed trailer in the morning. There are some preparations that need to be done before it enters the building: a slice needs to be trimmed from the bottom of the trunk, so that it can take on water; and branches need to be trimmed from the bottom to provide around sixteen inches of clear trunk to fit the stand. After that it’s a question of manpower.

Dudes from the facilities crew grab an armful of tree and march it up the steps, wrangling through the doorway with plenty of clearance. After that it’s simply a short left turn and a matter of bolting the tree stand to the bottom of the tree’s trunk.

A rope is used to move the tree into position, first by tugging the top into line while the adjusters in the stand are tightened or loosened to make sure that the tree is standing straight. Once that is completed, the rope is pulled down from the top of the tree and wrapped around the stand’s base, which is then pulled into position at the center of the windows of the Great Hall.

After a bit of sweeping and other cleanup, the binding wrapped around the tree is removed and the branches allowed to relax. The stand’s remote water tank is filled to provide the tree with ample hydration. Later in the week, the tree will be decorated with items made and/or donated by North Dakotans, through the ND Council on the Arts. I hope to submit one for next year, because i ran out of time this year. The tree now sits as you see it above until it gets decorated on Thursday and Friday. The official Tree Lighting Ceremony is next Monday.

So, there you go…one more geeky question answered by yours truly, a geek who chases down the answers to queetions which haunt the most neurotic among us.

These are a few of my favorite things (with map)

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You probably knew this already, but two of Bismarck-Mandan’s favorite Christmas attractions are up and running as of Thanksgiving weekend: Northview Lane and Chmielewski’s Christmas Corner.

The display at the corner of Kennedy Avenue, as elaborate as it is, still is a work in progress. The abominable snowmen aren’t up yet, for instance. There is, however, an amazing miniature ski lift hauling your favorite holiday characters up to the roof and back! Yes, photos are forthcoming as time allows.

My little guys and I absolutely love driving around looking at these displays with the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack playing in the truck. This time of year passes very quickly, so make sure you take a few laps!

I’ve resurrected last year’s Google Map of Bismarck-Mandan Christmas Lights for this year, and hope to make some additions or corrections once my little guys and I go out exploring. Highlights include:

– The aforementioned Chmielewski’s Christmas Corner on Kennedy & 23rd Street;
– Northview Lane;
– Acres of musical lights with a Wilz’s Light-O-Rama show on Chestnut Lane;
– Dykshoorn Park in Mandan;
– Christmas in the Park in Bismarck;
– and a wooden cartoon menagerie on west Avenue C.

Notably absent are displays on 4th and Divide, Ridgeview lane, West View Place. They weren’t on display last year, but I see that Ridgeview is back. Hopefully some of the others return as well.

The link is easy to remember:
www.tinyurl.com/bismarck-mandanchristmaslights.