GILLETT (NBC 26) — A Christmas tree grown in Oconto County is getting ready to spend the holidays beneath the dome of the Wisconsin State Capitol.
The 2026 Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda Holiday Tree was harvested Friday morning in Gillett. Dave and Mary Vander Velden donated the tree, continuing a long tradition of growing Christmas trees that have ended up in some prominent places.
“Well, I hate to say it, but I have pretty good trees,” Dave Vander Velden said.
He has the résumé to prove it.
The Vander Veldens have been part of Wisconsin's Christmas tree industry for more than 30 years. They provided trees for both the State Capitol Rotunda and the Governor's Executive Residence in 2025, along with several trees for the Governor's Conference Room over the years.
But arguably their biggest honor came after winning the National Christmas Tree Association's 2016 National Grand Champion title. The couple presented the official White House Christmas Tree to then-First Lady Michelle Obama.
“That was great. That was like the honor of honors,” Vander Velden said.
This year, another one of their trees is headed for Madison.
“Today we're cutting the tree for the state capitol, the rotunda,” Vander Velden said. “It's going to be a pretty tall tree, a really nice tree, and that's what we found here. I'm really happy for it.”
Members of the Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association harvested the tree Friday with equipment and support from Ponsse. The Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association and Wisconsin Department of Administration also partnered in the effort.
Once the tree came down, Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association Executive Director Henry Schienebeck said everything went according to plan.
“Perfect. Everything went just the way it was supposed to,” Schienebeck said. “We got the tree down without any damage. We like to get them there with as little damage as possible.”
While the tree is leaving Oconto County for the holidays, Vander Velden says cutting it down doesn't necessarily mean its story is over.
Many of the trees on the property can be regrown from their stumps. Vander Velden said they intentionally left the bottom row of branches on the Capitol tree behind.
“When you grow a tree from a stump, you get a clone of what's there,” Vander Velden said. “So, the capitol tree here. We left the bottom row of branches so that it can grow up again and become another tree.”
That means a future Christmas tree could eventually grow from the same stump that produced the tree headed to Madison this year.
The 2026 Capitol Holiday Tree will follow the theme “The Year of the Neighbor,” with Wisconsin students and families invited to make ornaments celebrating neighbors and community spirit.
The official tree-lighting ceremony is scheduled for noon Dec. 1 in the Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda in Madison.
