‘Tis the season to be merry! This week, the United States Capitol building put up their decorative tree to celebrate the Christmas season. This year, a married trucker team were chosen to transport the tree.
According to HDT Trucking Info, the trucker team that made the delivery was Ed and Deb Kingdon, a married couple. Ed served in the military before becoming a trucker, and was stationed in Washington D.C. for seven years. He told HDT that he dreamed of owning and operating a truck when he retired, and after some convincing his wife joined him. The two have been driving as a team for four years for Hardy Brothers, a carrier of mostly team drivers.
This year’s Capitol Christmas tree is a 78-foot-tall red spruce. Each year, one national forest is selected by the Capitol to provide a tree. This year’s came from North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. While under normal circumstances the trip would’ve taken about a day, this delivery took two weeks due to the media tour and attention surrounding it. The Kingdons made the decorative delivery in a Kenworth T680 Next Gen.
“It was an honor to be selected as one of the drivers and become the first woman driver to haul the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree,” she said. “It was an experience of a lifetime.” Deb Kingdon told Overdrive in their report.
The tree was delivered on November 18, and after a couple weeks of decorating and prep, it is finally on display on the U.S. Capitol’s west lawn.
THE LIGHTS! ✨🎄
The #CapitolChristmasTree will be lit from nightfall until 11 p.m. each evening now through January 1. pic.twitter.com/HXyq5x81eh
— Architect of the Capitol (@uscapitol) November 29, 2022
