Word: sprucing
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...state's senior citizens. Boston's golden-domed statehouse backs a Common of white-lit trees. In Sacramento this year, because the capitol building is undergoing reconstruction to strengthen it against earthquakes, only two 10-ft. firs herald the holiday. And in Washington, a white spruce festooned with 2,500 colored lights and 5,000 shiny ornaments easily upstages the Capitol behind it. But over near the White House the nation's official Christmas tree is dark except for one star at the top because the hostages in Iran have yet to receive a Christmas gift...
...crisp evening last week, Amy Carter stepped up to a podium on the Ellipse, just south of the White House, and pressed the button controlling the lights on a 30-ft. blue spruce and 50 smaller trees around it, one for each state. But for the first time since Calvin Coolidge began the tradition in 1923, the big tree did not burst into light. Only the white star on its top and the tiny blue bulbs on the smaller trees blinked on. "Amy has lit 50 trees-one for each American hostage," explained President Carter to the 7,500 surprised...
Across the land this week, millions of these marvelous trees are being bought, carted home, decorated, admired. At the White House the Carter family has three trees. A 30-foot spruce, lighted last week, graces the Ellipse and serves as the na tional tree.. A 20-foot fir, surrounded by antique toys and a miniature house set up by Amy, dominates the Blue Room. Another tree stands in the upstairs living quarters. But on Christmas morning, Amy and her family expect to be in Plains, where they will celebrate beside a tree cut this week by the President himself...
...four vehicles reached Washington, there were motorcycle police waiting to escort everybody down Constitution Avenue and over to the Ellipse, where the tree was planted just across the street from the White House. Bill Ruback flashed the word to his office to call Mrs. Myers and tell her the spruce was in place. She cried again when the phone call came. Out her front window she could see the empty spot covered with fresh sod. "It looks," she said later, "like a new patch on an old pair of trousers...
...Myers' spruce now has 1,500 small gold lights, a gold garland, red star ornaments, gold balls and a star on top (placed by Amy Carter) that has a torch modeled after the one held by the Statue of Liberty. This Thursday (Dec. 14) Jimmy Carter plans to throw the switch and let the lights shine forth. He will surely say something about good will toward men as he gazes at the tree. He could take his text from Mrs. Myers, Bill Ruback and his men, the crew from Davey's and that tiny corner of York that...