3,000 Miles Later, Holiday Tree Lands in D.C.

Christmas spirit, patriotism and pride can be seen on the faces of three brothers: Juan, Jaime, and Nick Yraguen. The three own and operate Basco Logging, but it&#8217;s not a load of logs they&#8217;re proud of; it&#8217;s the delivery of a special 70-ft. Douglas fir to Washington, D.C. When the brothers heard that Oregon&#8217;s Umpqua National Forest had been selected to provide the holiday tree for the U.S. Capitol building grounds, the trio was quick to volunteer their company&#8217;s services and a new Kenworth T800 to deliver the tree. &#8220;We told the Forest Service that we&#8217;d volunteer to move the Christmas tree for them&#8230;that we&#8217;d make everyone proud,&#8221; said Juan Yraguen. &#8220;We were very happy when they selected us to make the move. We wanted to represent our industry, and we felt there was no better gift we could give than to move the nation&#8217;s Christmas tree.&#8221; Basco Logging, which is based in Sutherlin, OR, provided what Juan calls the prettiest truck he&#8217;s ever seen. &#8220;We thought a lot about how to make the T800 special and we had an airbrush artist paint a mural of an F22 fighter jet flying over mountains,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It symbolizes our patriotic message and our pride in our homeland security, plus we showcase our pride in the mountains and our timber industry.&#8221; According to the Forest Service spokeswoman Cheryl Walters, who is co-chair of the Holiday Tree Project, the selection of Basco Logging to handle the move was a great choice. &#8220;The family has been great to work with,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They&#8217;re donating so much of their time; they&#8217;re great ambassadors for the Holiday Tree. It&#8217;s also great that they&#8217;re using a brand new Kenworth. It&#8217;s a nice truck&#8230;it gets oohhs and aahhs from the crowd!&#8221; The 3,100-mile journey began on Nov. 11 and concluded on Dec. 2 at the nation&#8217;s capital. Along the way, Nick and Jaime are personally driving the tree to D.C. On Dec. 12, all three brothers joined to watch the tree-lighting ceremony with their families. &#8220;I expect that will be a very special evening,&#8221; said Juan. &#8220;We have a lot to be thankful for; transporting the tree to D.C. was one way we could give back to our country.&#8221;