Wisconsin’s Walker lights Christmas tree among protesters

MADISON, Wis. — Even the annual lighting of Wisconsin’s Christmas tree on Friday couldn’t escape politics.

Protesters turned their backs as Gov. Scott Walker lighted the tree and one Democratic state senator complained about the timing of the ceremony.

Sen. Bob Jauch of Poplar said Walker purposefully held the lighting in the morning because he was afraid protesters would disrupt a noontime event. A couple dozen protesters, many of them holding “Recall Walker” signs, did not interrupt the governor or cause any disruptions.

About 200 people attended the event, many of them members of the military who were being honored during the ceremony, but Jauch said there should have been more than 1,000.

“It’s normally a joyous occasion,” Jauch said. “He has screwed up one of the finest traditions in the state Capitol.”

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said the lighting was held in the morning because the governor had midday speaking engagements and scheduling conflicts in Milwaukee that he could not change. He said he felt the ceremony was just as joyous as always.

“We were happy that Sen. Jauch attended the Christmas tree lighting ceremony this morning,” Werwie said.

Even before the ceremony, the tree was a subject of controversy when Walker declared it a Christmas tree and not a holiday tree, as it had been called since 1985. The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation called that an insensitive move to nonreligious people and amounts to a government endorsement of Christians.

Jauch said he didn’t care what the tree was called, but in the spirit of the season Walker should have scheduled the lighting at noon so more people from Brule, a town 300 miles from Madison where the tree came from, could attend.

“He set this up early in the morning so as few people could get here and he could protect his image,” Jauch said.

A second ceremony over the noon hour honoring the 36-foot balsam fir tree itself, and featuring Jauch, was planned. Department of Natural Resources Secretary Cathy Stepp was scheduled to give a history of the tree, the area from which it came and brief overview of forestry in Wisconsin. The Maple school district high school chamber choir also was scheduled to perform.

Walker dedicated the tree to members of the military at the morning ceremony. Veterans and members of all military branches attended.