All roads lead to Milford

MILFORD — It was day four on the road for the 22-vehicle convoy that transported the 2007 Capitol Christmas Tree, and Milford was its eighth stop en route to the nation’s capital. The caravan, escorted by Milford police, was greeted at around 3 p.m. last Friday by local residents, described as a “crowd of unbelievable proportions” by the daily blog found at capitolchristmastree2007.org. The 60-year-old balsam fir was cut from the Green Mountain National Forest and measured some 55 feet long. It is the fifth time in the 37-year-old tradition’s history that the tree came from Vermont; the last was in 1994 when it also passed through Milford, as some in the crowd recalled. Fred Beauchamp, one of the drivers of the 70-foot trailer used to carry the tree, said that the journey would last a span of seven days. His antique truck club from Rutland, Vermont was chosen to sponsor this year’s trip and his trailer was the only one large enough to accommodate the massive tree. In addition to ceremonies at various towns, the caravan also visited about a half-dozen veterans’ hospitals along the way to bring season’s greetings and donate smaller trees. Its last stop was at Walter Reed Medical Hospital, and the tree was delivered to its final destination in the District of Columbia on Monday. The fleet of trucks and this journey are all dedicated to veterans, Beauchamp said. The tree was parked alongside the Hotel Fauchere on East Catherine Street and drew a crowd estimated to be between 300-400 people. Beauchamp said Milford drew the largest crowd of any stop to that point. On the bottom of the tree a message read, “this end down” — explained as Vermonters’ desire to make things very clear. Some members of the crowd, on the other hand, said it was necessary because of the way things work in Washington. Whatever the case may be, it drew a good amount of chuckles from the gathering, which also seemed to enjoy the festivities very much, despite the bitterly cold weather. The two-hour ceremony included live piano entertainment, performances by the Shohola elementary school bell choir, and addresses by local officials and members of the Bennington Chamber of Commerce, an organization in Vermont sponsoring the Christmas tree. Bettenell Miller, who was among the busload of Bennington, Vt. volunteers who traveled with the tree, spoke volumes about her first visit to Milford. “It looks like such a wonderful, happy town,” she said. She also commented about the importance of paying tribute to the country’s veterans and how this was a main focus of the trip. These sentiments were echoed by local veteran Sonia Gatzke, the first speaker of the evening. “It’s no accident they stopped in Milford,” said Grey Towers director Dick Paterson, who went on to describe the legacy of Milford and past resident Gifford Pinchot, considered to be the father of forestry. The tree was cut from the Green Mountain National Forest, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary. It was significant the tree make its way to the doorstep of the first chief of the Forest Service, Paterson said. The Delaware Water Gap was the only national park through which the tree passed before arriving at the national mall; this brought further environmental remarks from park superintendent John Donahue. Milford Mayor Merritt Quinn said that the visit was an honor for the town. He presented the Bennington Chamber of Commerce chairpersons with Skip Gregory’s book “All Roads Lead to Milford” for which they thanked him and jokingly agreed. Organizing for this event started many months ago, said Lori McKean of Grey Towers. “It was a combined effort between the Forest Service at Grey Towers and the Milford Business Council,” she said. She also indicated that the tree stayed in the borough because they desired to make it more of a community event and draw people around the town. Local businesses were also among those enjoying the event as a result, benefiting from the heavy foot traffic. Tom France, owner of Golden Gifts Jewelry, said he noticed a lot more people ambling about. “I think its great … it gets people to walk the streets,” he said. “It is also a good thing because it gets people interested in the local history and background of the area,” he added. Just Add Sugar was one of the more popular Broad Street destinations, where hot chocolate, tea, and coffee were in high demand. With upwards of 250 miles to go on their five-state journey, the convoy took off the following morning, leaving two smaller trees behind, one with the Columns Museum and one with Grey Towers, as a reminder of the year when Milford welcomed the nation’s Christmas Tree.