CHRISTMAS GREETINGS! 

Best wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season 

Christmas Snippets 

THE NATION’S CHRISTMAS TREE 

Deep in the forest in the center of the General Grant Grove in 

Kings Canyon National Park of California’s Sierra Nevada 

mountain stands the General Grant Tree, the nation’s symbol of 

Christmas joy and goodwill. The 3,500 year old redwood giant 

was declared a Nation Shrine by an Act of Congress and The U.S. 

Department of the interior formally dedicated the tree as the 

Nation’s Christmas Tree ninety eight Christmas’s ago in 1926. 

The massive tree, belonging to the species Sequoia Gigantea, 

stands 267 feet tall and measures 33 feet in diameter is second in 

size only to the four foot taller General Sherman Tree in the same 

grove of magnificent trees that were fortunately spared from 

lumbering operations that took place in the old growth forest in the 

late 1800’s and early 1900’s.The imposing monarch was first 

discovered by Joseph Hardin Thomas and named by Lucretia 

Parker in 1867 for Ulysses S. Grant, Commanding General of the 

Union Army. Lore is that a local official visiting the grove 

overheard a young girl say, mostly to herself, “What a lovely 

Christmas tree that would be”.The following Christmas the official, 

R.J Senior and several friends, returned to the snow covered 

grove to place flowers beside the tree and hold a short service. 

Upon returning home, Senior initiated a vigorous promotion 

campaign and wrote a request to President Calvin Coolidge 

resulting in the National Christmas Tree designation. Every 

Christmas Season since 1926 a service and festival celebration is 

held at the base of The General Grant, The Nations Christmas 

Tree. 

We take time during the holidays to thoughtfully reflect on the past, savor the fleeting present and embrace whatever the future may bring. 

May past memories bring you joy and comfort during this Holiday Season. 

The Ralphs