• Korson’s Tree Farms of Michigan will provide this year’s White House Christmas tree
  • The Blue Room tree tradition began in 1912 and became annual in 1961
  • Michigan has supplied two White House trees in the past. Most come from North Carolina and Pennsylvania

A Michigan grower will supply this year’s White House Christmas tree, a towering 18-foot blue spruce that’s been two decades in the making.

Korson’s Tree Farms in Montcalm County will have the honor after winning a National Christmas Tree Association contest that decides which tree is sent to the White House Blue Room for holiday display. 

“It’s another level for growers in the national association competing in this contest,” owner Rex Korson told Bridge Michigan. 

“This is our Super Bowl.”

Farms across the nation enter trees into the contest for a chance to win the Grand Championship. To qualify, growers must first win their state or regional competitions. The top growers are named co-grand champions and provide the White House Christmas tree for the next two years. 

Korson’s Tree Farms is no stranger to the competition. The family-owned farm entered the competition six times. In 2015, they won the second reserve championship and gifted an 11-foot Fraser fir to then-Vice President Joe Biden. 

An aerial view of a Christmas tree farm.
The 18-foot blue source heading to the White House has been growing for 20 years. Its strong branches make it ideal for supporting heavy holiday ornaments. (Courtesy of Korson’s Tree Farm)

This year, the farm will supply President Donald Trump’s administration with a blue spruce, which has a strong branch structure that can support heavier ornaments, making it the perfect tree for the White House, Korson said. 

“One of the cool things about this whole process is … they remove the chandelier during the holiday season to put the tree up,” he added. “So, it has to actually go all the way right to the ceiling.”

Inside the Blue Room tree tradition

The Blue Room, located on the first floor in the center of the south side of the White House, is a formal reception room used for small ceremonies and for holiday decorations. 

President Benjamin Harrison introduced the first White House Christmas tree in 1889, placing it in the Second Floor Oval Room for his grandchildren. The first tree in the Blue Room came in 1912 under President William Howard Taft.

First Lady Mamie Eisenhower made the Blue Room tree a yearly tradition, which First Lady Jackie Kennedy continued in 1961 by adding themed decorations, a tradition that still stands. The official tree has only been placed elsewhere twice since then.

Christmas trees across the country

Michigan is among the top Christmas tree producers in the country, and over the past six decades, trees from the state have graced the White House Blue Room on two prior occasions.

The last Michigan winner was in 1985, when Stephen Vander Wiede sent a Blue Spruce to the White House. In 1974, Ed Cole supplied a Concolor Fir.

The Korson’s tree will be Michigan’s third — tied with Ohio for sixth most among the states, according to a tally by The White House Historical Society, which as of last year had listed:

  • Indiana: 2
  • Massachusetts: 1
  • Michigan: 2
  • Missouri: 1
  • New York: 2
  • North Carolina: 16
  • Ohio: 3
  • Oregon: 2
  • Pennsylvania: 12
  • Vermont: 1
  • Washington: 7
  • West Virginia: 5
  • Wisconsin: 8
  • Anonymously Donated from New England: 1
  • Unknown: 1

Most Blue Room Christmas trees — 58 of them — have been firs. The Korson’s tree will be the sixth spruce since 1961.

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