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Governor plugs Christmas back into tree-lighting ceremony
By: BRIAN MELLEY - Associated Press | ∞
SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took on the role of "Triminator" on Thursday, helping a disabled girl hang the final ornament on the state Christmas tree and ending a secular practice of calling it a "holiday tree."
Schwarzenegger did not mention the name change that was done in honor of the late Sen. William "Pete" Knight, who had lobbied unsuccessfully for the change before his death earlier this year.
Before lighting the tree, Schwarzenegger talked about his Christmas traditions growing up in Austria, singing carols in German around a tree trimmed with candy, cookies and real candles.
"Back then not in my wildest dreams did I think about that one day I would be standing here in front of the Capitol in Sacramento ... as the governor and lighting the official state Christmas tree," he said.
A choir sang "Tis the Season," as Schwarzenegger helped Ariana Pole, a 7-year-old with cerebral palsy, put the final handmade ornament on the 56-foot white fir.
Then he and first lady Maria Shriver flipped a switch to light 5,000 multicolored bulbs as about 1,000 people watched.
It was the 73rd annual lighting of the tree. Four years ago, during the state's power crisis, Gov. Gray Davis lit the tree and then turned it off to save energy.
Davis also changed the name to the holiday tree, a practice Schwarzenegger followed last year, soon after taking office.
The governor's office wouldn't comment on the name change this year, but Schwarzenegger said during Knight's funeral in May that the yuletide tree would be called the Christmas tree as long as he was in office.
Schwarzenegger said at the funeral that it was one of the first things the senator approached him about. Days after Schwarzenegger ousted Davis from office, Knight, R-Palmdale, requested a meeting with his fellow Republican to complain.
"He was just practically going crazy," Schwarzenegger said at the funeral. "I could see the veins popping out."
Knight, who said the name change dishonored a Christian symbol in the name of inclusiveness, authored a bill to change the name, but the measure died.
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