Rural Missouri - December 2022 - 13

than 70 winners visit the mansion. " They each bring an ornament
from their school to be placed on a JAG tree that represents them
in the house, " she says. " We've placed the tree in different locations
each year. "
While many visitors come to see the interior of the mansion in
all its beauty, it's another holiday tradition that first greets them.
For at least the past 30 years, the team at the Missouri Department
of Conservation (MDC) scours the state for the perfect holiday
tree to be displayed in the front yard of the mansion at the corner
of Madison Street and Capitol Avenue.
Holly Dentner with MDC helps administer finding and transporting
the perfect tree. In late summer or early fall the department
puts out a request seeking submissions of trees to be donated for
the mansion.
" Our priority is to find native or preferred species which would
be eastern red cedar, Norway spruce or white pine, " she says. " The
best candidates for us are going to be fully branched all the way
around and are going to be big. We're talking at least 30 feet, but
preferably 40 feet tall. "
The trees picked are usually older, toward the end of their lives
and probably planted decades ago and have grown too big for their
yard.
Possible donors email in their application as well as pictures for
MDC's foresters to look over. Once they've zeroed in on a few possible
candidates, their infrastructure management team checks each
tree out to make sure it is accessible and they'll be able to move it.
The 2021 tree was a Norway spruce that celebrated the 150th
anniversary of the mansion's construction and was donated by
Steven and Carla Leible of Columbia. " Our tree had just gotten way
too big and we had to do something about it, " Carla says. " Our son
heard about it online and I thought it would be so cool if our tree
got picked to be at the mansion. "
The Leibles were chosen and the crew from MDC moved the tree
to the mansion the Monday after Thanksgiving. A few weeks later
Carla was present for the tree lighting ceremony and candlelight
tours of the mansion.
" We would've just had someone come out and cut the tree into
pieces, " she says. " To see such a big, beautiful tree moved from our
yard and decorated on the lawn of The Governor's Mansion and to
be there for the lighting was something we'll remember. "
The 2022 lighting ceremony kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2
with the candlelight tours immediately following until 9 p.m. There
will be a second round of tours on Monday, Dec. 5 from 6 to 8 p.m.
The tours are free and open to the public.
Whether it's the decorations on the 40-foot tree outside or the
ornaments and greenery inside the mansion, it's a great time to
visit Teresa says.
" We enjoy people coming out and sharing
the house with them, " the first lady
says. " This building is special anytime, but
it's really special during Christmastime. "
Jefferson City
For more information on the candlelight
tours visit www.mansion.mo.gov or call 573751-4141.
Left:
Visitors to The Missouri Governor's Mansion in 2021 saw this Norway
spruce, which celebrated the mansion's 150th anniversary. Right, from top:
Workers with the Missouri Department of Conservation haul the giant tree to
Jefferson City and use a crane to place it in the yard. Guests make their way to
the front of the mansion for candlelight tours. This tree was a favorite photo stop
inside the mansion. Top two photos courtesy Missouri Governor's office.
http://www.mansion.mo.gov
Rural Missouri - December 2022

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