PHOTOS: Tallest-ever tree shines in Capitol during annual ceremony
A record-breaking 40-foot Christmas tree will decorate the Oregon Capitol rotunda for the holiday season.
The Noble fir was lit Tuesday evening during a ceremony that also featured a performance from the Willamette Master Chorus.
Volunteer electricians from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 280 will strung more than 7,000 LED lights and hung the tree with ornaments and decorations ahead of the ceremony.
It’s the first time since 2019 the Capitol has had a tree in the rotunda, which has been largely closed to the public due to the pandemic and years of renovations on the historic structure.
The tree is the tallest the Capitol has ever seen, according to Jodie Jones, director of Capitol Accessibility, Maintenance and Safety. It usually has a 26 to 30-foot tree.
But the tree isn’t just unique for its height. It was a last-minute pick, after plans for the first one halted when it fell on a wildlife firefighter who was helping to cut it down. Inside the building now stands the 40-foot giant picked by lumber company Weyerhaeuser.
It is decorated with grand multicolored ornaments and thousands of glittering lights. The shining silver star on top nearly scrapes the edges of the rotunda walls.
“This is probably the only time you will ever see (a tree) this big in here,” Jones said.
Performances from area choirs in the rotunda start Wednesday and run through Dec. 23. Salem schools, from elementary through college, are set to perform. There’s a full schedule here and performances will be livestreamed at this link.
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Photographer Ron Cooper and his wife Penny moved to Salem in 1969 to take a job as photographer at the Oregon Statesman (later the Statesman Journal). Their three children, Monica, Kimberly, and Christopher, attended and graduated from Salem public schools. Cooper retired from the Statesman Journal in 2001 but, has continued his passion for photography in many ways, including as a photographer for the Salem Reporter.
Hailey Cook covers healthcare for Salem Reporter, from the city’s only hospital to local outlooks on health insurance coverage. She joined the newsroom in 2025, following the completion of an internship through the University of Oregon’s Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism. She also works as a photojournalist, capturing community events, government meetings and other gatherings.
