How they get that enormous Christmas tree into the Capitol each year

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Clint

Each Christmas one can see a beautifully adorned and rather huge Christmas tree standing in the Great Hall of the state capitol building. It’s lit at night so that people driving past the front of the building can see it, and the display is readily available for you to visit from around 7:30 am until 5:30 pm each weekday. One can’t help but wonder: how does such a large tree find its way into the capitol building in the first place?

Of course, the direct approach is the most effective. Rather than trying to thread any hallways or turn any corners with the cumbersome tree, it comes right up the front steps and through the revolving doors. Conveniently, the panels these doors are able to collapse and slide out of the way to allow a wide berth for anyone wishing to wrestle a formidably sized conifer through the doorway.

These doors were actually designed to do this; while bringing anything larger than a briefcase through the revolving doors might pose a challenge, these doors are designed to pivot completely out of the way and provide an even wider opening than most conventional doorways.

The tree arrives on a flatbed trailer in the morning. There are some preparations that need to be done before it enters the building: a slice needs to be trimmed from the bottom of the trunk, so that it can take on water; and branches need to be trimmed from the bottom to provide around sixteen inches of clear trunk to fit the stand. After that it’s a question of manpower.

Dudes from the facilities crew grab an armful of tree and march it up the steps, wrangling through the doorway with plenty of clearance. After that it’s simply a short left turn and a matter of bolting the tree stand to the bottom of the tree’s trunk.

A rope is used to move the tree into position, first by tugging the top into line while the adjusters in the stand are tightened or loosened to make sure that the tree is standing straight. Once that is completed, the rope is pulled down from the top of the tree and wrapped around the stand’s base, which is then pulled into position at the center of the windows of the Great Hall.

After a bit of sweeping and other cleanup, the binding wrapped around the tree is removed and the branches allowed to relax. The stand’s remote water tank is filled to provide the tree with ample hydration. Later in the week, the tree will be decorated with items made and/or donated by North Dakotans, through the ND Council on the Arts. I hope to submit one for next year, because i ran out of time this year. The tree now sits as you see it above until it gets decorated on Thursday and Friday. The official Tree Lighting Ceremony is next Monday.

So, there you go…one more geeky question answered by yours truly, a geek who chases down the answers to queetions which haunt the most neurotic among us.

These are a few of my favorite things (with map)

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Clint

You probably knew this already, but two of Bismarck-Mandan’s favorite Christmas attractions are up and running as of Thanksgiving weekend: Northview Lane and Chmielewski’s Christmas Corner.

The display at the corner of Kennedy Avenue, as elaborate as it is, still is a work in progress. The abominable snowmen aren’t up yet, for instance. There is, however, an amazing miniature ski lift hauling your favorite holiday characters up to the roof and back! Yes, photos are forthcoming as time allows.

My little guys and I absolutely love driving around looking at these displays with the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack playing in the truck. This time of year passes very quickly, so make sure you take a few laps!

I’ve resurrected last year’s Google Map of Bismarck-Mandan Christmas Lights for this year, and hope to make some additions or corrections once my little guys and I go out exploring. Highlights include:

– The aforementioned Chmielewski’s Christmas Corner on Kennedy & 23rd Street;
– Northview Lane;
– Acres of musical lights with a Wilz’s Light-O-Rama show on Chestnut Lane;
– Dykshoorn Park in Mandan;
– Christmas in the Park in Bismarck;
– and a wooden cartoon menagerie on west Avenue C.

Notably absent are displays on 4th and Divide, Ridgeview lane, West View Place. They weren’t on display last year, but I see that Ridgeview is back. Hopefully some of the others return as well.

The link is easy to remember:
www.tinyurl.com/bismarck-mandanchristmaslights.

Independence Day at our beloved capitol

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Clint

Our little family was able to attend the Independence Day celebration at the capitol with some dear friends this year, taking in some music and kettlecorn while having a lovely evening outdoors. It’s become an annual tradition for our family and, judging by the enormous crowd occupying the grass of the capitol mall each year, for many others as well.

One of the first things I noticed this year is that the orchestra was not staged up on the steps of the capitol. With scaffolding for the ongoing limestone restoration still hanging atop the capitol tower, everybody has to stay outside the safety fence’s perimeter…even musicians.

I didn’t set out specifically to take fireworks shots this evening, but since they’re there and so is my camera…what the heck? In this one I verified that my flash could illuminate most of the crowd in front of me, but I figured to do so repeatedly would be rude. Anyway, here are a few of my favorite shots.

The crowd was so red from this one it looks like they’re on KFYR-TV’s Skywatch camera at night! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check it out after dark sometime.

Wind from the north helped clear out the smoke from exploded shells but it also made the sparkly globes a little lopsided. Photographers are perfectionists, you know.

At one point in the evening, before the fireworks, I heard a familiar riff. Several of us looked at each other in surprise, because it was the intro lead-in to Kashmir. I quickly recalled that Aaron Meyer, the guest soloist, is a rock violinist and everything clicked into place.

Throughout the entire evening I didn’t see a single mosquito. That must have been due to the squadrons of dragonflies ever buzzing overhead. My guess is that the evening was a mosquito smorgasbord for those guys, and we’re grateful that they kept the skies clear for us!

The fireworks are great, but they would not be nearly as entertaining if they lacked the accompaniment of Dr. Beverly Everett and the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, belting out our favorite patriotic marches and hymns!

After the finale it was time to pack up for the evening. I had to chuckle because the nonstop rumble and popping from Mandan sounded like we had our own little war zone across the river. Even from the parking lot of the capitol the noise was quite loud. I imagine everyone over there was having quite a time!

I love the Independence Day celebration at the capitol, and hope to partake next year as well. I have something a little different in mind photographically, so we’ll see how that turns out. Have a good weekend!

Happy Industrial Revolution Day! (Or Happy Romans Chapter 1 Day for us Bible believers)

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Clint

This is a view that few people get to see. The glowing red on the other side of that smoked glass is a vortex of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit reaching over two hundred feet high. It burns powdered coal which has been cleaned and dried, making it a very efficient and clean source of power. And it’s right here in North Dakota. You could put the state capitol building inside this boiler!

When you hear about “clean coal technology” you should note that North Dakota is pretty much the epicenter of innovation. At this particular power plant, by the way, over $200 million has been spent over the past thirty years on development of environmental technology. New processes have been brainstormed here that are of interest to power generation companies all over the world!

By the way, April 22nd is called “Earth Day” by some. This day was so named in order to fight global cooling back in 1970. That should tell you right there how much credibility the global cooling warming climate change movement has. Add to the mix the fact that it falls on Lenin’s birthday and mounting evidence that the “environmentalism” movement is merely a home for displaced socialists, and it all starts to make sense. After all…no matter what manifestation of global weather crisis is used to incite panic, the ONLY purported solution has always been global socialism.

Back to the photo. The power coming from plants like this powers homes, businesses, hospitals, schools…you name it. It provides life-saving heat in the winter and cooling in the summer. It powers information technology, life support systems, manufacturing, and who knows what else. Yet there are those deranged individuals who wish to vilify the energy industry and treat such technical innovation with disdain. They’re truly detached from reality and I welcome them to relocate to a third world country if they find nobility in primitive living.

Incidentally, the Bible talks of people who worship creation rather than the Creator in Romans chapter 1. This is nothing new. Actually, the people pushing this climate agenda wouldn’t be pushing it at all if the solution wasn’t global socialism. That’s why I choose to have a Festivus of sorts, one that recognizes the value of the technology and innovation that makes this country great. I’m not the one who brainstormed this answer to Earth Day, but I am certainly on board. Happy Industrial Revolution Day and/or Romans Chapter 1 Day!

One more time, with feeling

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Clint

I had lots of fun family time this weekend instead of roaming with the camera, but I did want to sneak in a quick 2012 shot. Since I began this blog site in January 2006 I have always found a way to nab a quick shot of the capitol with its windows declaring the new year. During that time I’ve just about shot every available angle of the thing, but I was able to grab something a little different this time around.

I did go out after midnight, chuckling at all the other like-minded souls roaming the capitol grounds with their cameras, but I found the experience lacking this time around. The reason for that is the clear sky; it doesn’t reflect any light on the capitol, so in order to properly expose the windows one must underexpose the building even more than I’d like. That almost gives the 2012 an appearance of floating in midair. Here’s where my “technical creativity” kicked in: I figured I’d let the sun help me out.

I packed up my gear this morning before sunrise, got into position, and waited for the sun to give me just enough scattered light in the atmosphere and on the capitol tower without competing with the 2012 in the windows. It was a fine balance, and I actually set an intervalometer to sit and take shots every 30 seconds so I could catch the right window of time, and that was that.

The shot above has the windows lit with the new year, the tower and town are visible, the sky is a nice blue, and it looks like everything worked as planned. Also important is that I think, out of all the people who photographed the building, I have a very unique photo.

Happy New Year!

In a word: Busy.

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Clint

Busy. That would describe my 2011 in as concise a way possible, yet in as verbose a manner as necessary. The photo above? I had to Photoshop the windows in last year’s photo because I didn’t get the time to take a real one…yet.

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions; however, I do hope to make better use of my time in the future. That should allow more opportunities for what’s important: faith, family, fotography, motorcycles… 🙂

Happy New Year!

Almost forgot one – the Anderson Building

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Clint

I can’t let the Christmas season pass without recognizing one of my favorite displays: the Anderson Building on Main Avenue and Mandan Street. For those of you who may wonder, for me Christmas season starts on midnight Thanksgiving Day until midnight on New Year’s Eve. Thankfully, many others feel the same way to a degree; Christmas light displays like this one are still boldly lit all over town! That allows guys like me to get some “pickup shots” of the ones we missed. Christmas was WAY too busy this time around.

One feature about this building has me wondering: the loudspeakers up top. Personally, I think they need to be sending out Christmas music, preferably some sort of Vince Guaraldi montage or something. What do you think?

Merry (continual) Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Christmas 2011: notable absences

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Clint

I’m not about to go negative here, I just would like to fondly remember a few Christmas decorations that have brought a lot of joy in the past but were absent this year. Above is the Paul Schaff house, located southwest of Mandan. It was an amazing display, but he stopped doing it after his wife passed away. You could see it from the Seven Seas restaurant!

This tree on Northview Lane used to be decorated from bottom to top. Under its current ownership, however, it’s only decorated a little ways up. I see the house is listed for sale, so let’s hope that the new owners have a cherry-picker!

Speaking of trees, this one on north Fourth Street (just past Divide Avenue) was one of my personal favorites. It was decorated with class and was enormous. It was dark this year.

Back to Northview Lane – this house at the top of the hill had flashing lights, but I didn’t see a sign indicating a radio station for it to sync with. Since he was on 107.5 before The River (now MOJO 107.5) came on the air, I wonder if he got drowned out. Time to spend a hundred bucks on a frequency-agile transmitter, guys.

Another house on a cul-de-sac just past the top of the hill was a home decorated with lots of characters and lights…it too sat dark this Christmas.

2011 is going to go down as a year in which a LOT of things just didn’t happen. Many people’s lives were turned upside down due to the flooding and other events this year, so I certainly don’t want to come across the wrong way by highlighting an absence of decorations. Again, these displays brought joy to a lot of people, and we miss ’em. That’s all. Hopefully new ones and old favorites like the Chmielewskis will keep all parts of Bismarck and Mandan bright with Christmas cheer next year, while proving those pesky Mayans wrong once and for all!

One cool way to wrap up your Christmas evening

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Clint

With a night ride, of course! The last time I got to do this was in 2006. It was a beautiful evening, aside from my visor fogging up, but I kept the ride short so I could get some things done at home. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Lights Map: it’s back (Now with the link included!)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Clint

Sorry, I forgot to include the link to the map on Google Maps when I wrote this post at oh-dark-hundred this morning! This is hardly comprehensive, but it’ll get you going. I’ve resurrected last year’s Google Map of Bismarck-Mandan Christmas Lights for this year, with an addition or two and, sadly, a few subtractions. Highlights include:

– My friend Jerry’s “Peanuts” display on Calgary & Montreal;
– Chmielewski’s Christmas Corner on Kennedy & 23rd Street;
– Northview Lane;
– Acres of musical lights with a Light-O-Rama show on Chestnut Lane;
– Dykshoorn Park in Mandan;
– Christmas in the Park in Bismarck;
– and a wooden cartoon menagerie on west Avenue C.

Notably absent are displays on 4th and Divide, Ridgeview lane, West View Place. I’m sorry to see those places dark, since they had such wonderful Christmas displays in the past.