Capitol tree stops in Santa Claus, Ind.

SANTA CLAUS, Ind. — An organizer of the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree’s trip across the country says picking the southern Indiana town of Santa Claus for a stop was an easy decision.

The special trailer hauling the 65-foot white fir tree from California’s Sierra Nevada mountains to Washington, D.C., stopped Monday afternoon at the Santa Claus Christmas Store, where many visitors signed a banner that’s been gathering Christmas messages during the trip.

The Capitol tree tradition began in the 1960s but it had never stopped in Santa Claus. Spencer County tourism director Melissa Wilkinson tells the Evansville Courier & Press that she didn’t have to make a hard sell for the town that celebrates Christmas year-round.

Tree coordinator Maria Benech says the tour hadn’t included Santa Claus before simply because nobody ever asked.