Fourth-graders from Medford Elementary and Stetsonville Elementary schools perform during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony Friday at the state Capitol in Madison.
Gary Meyer of Medford started planting balsam fir trees when he was a teenager. Almost 40 years later, one of Meyer's trees was selected as the state Capitol Christmas tree to tower inside the rotunda during the holiday season.
Meyer, who owns Meyer's Castle Tree Farm in Medford, pruned the 37-foot-tall tree for nearly four decades using handmade tools.
"It's called a lifetime tree because it takes a lifetime to grow, but once you get a nice shape, it kind of takes care of itself," he said. ...