- In this edition of "ARTEFFECTS", a statewide effort to adorn the 2025 U.S.

Capitol Christmas Tree with thousands of handmade ornaments.

(charming music) - The tree is a symbol of our national forest lands, and this is our chance to showcase what Nevada national forests have to offer to Nevadans and the American people.

- Head to Hidden Valley for the Parade of Lights.

(enchanting music) - If everybody put up a string of lights, I think it'd look fantastic.

You don't need all the other stuff, just everybody in the spirit.

- And a peek behind the curtain at A.V.A.

Ballet Theatre.

- The community expects really good culture here now, and they're getting it.

(lively music) - It's all ahead on this edition of "ARTEFFECTS".

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Funding for "ARTEFFECTS" is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors, Heidemarie Rochlin, in memory of Sue McDowell, the Carol Franc Buck Foundation, and by the annual contributions of PBS Reno members.

- Hello, I'm Beth Macmillan, and welcome to "ARTEFFECTS".

Since 1970, the U.S.

Forest Service has provided a Christmas tree for the West Lawn of the U.S.

Capitol in Washington, DC.

This year, and for the first time ever, the U.S.

Capitol Christmas Tree came from Nevada, from the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

To commemorate the occasion, countless Nevadans created thousands upon thousands of ornaments to adorn the tree, called "Silver Belle," in a beautiful show of artistry and state pride.

(gentle music) - The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is the largest national forest in the lower 48 states of the United States.

6.3 million acres across major mountain ranges in Nevada, and then also a portion in the Eastern Sierra Nevada in California.

We have over 15 different conifer species across Nevada, across the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Since 1970, the U.S.

Forest Service provides the Capitol Christmas Tree to be on the West Lawn of the U.S.

Capitol.

We were offered this opportunity a couple years ago.

We raised our hand, and this is the first time that the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and Nevada will be providing the Capitol Christmas Tree.

(charming music) Looking for that perfect Christmas tree, we had many opportunities to look at all of our different conifers, and where we're considering the 6 million acres of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, we had to narrow that down to places where there was road access for tree harvest.

The red fir that we selected is a 53-foot tall red fir, and it's about 18 feet wide.

Beautiful stout branching, silver tip, upright nature of what a red fir looks like really highlights the beauty of our trees that we have here in Nevada.

The tree is a symbol of our national forest lands, of our public lands.

This is our chance to showcase what Nevada national forests have to offer to Nevadans and the American people.

(charming music) So we started out this last January with coming up with a theme, and that theme is "Starry Skies to Neon Lights: Spirit of the Silver State."

That process, that effort to come up with a theme, really encapsulates all Nevada.

Encapsulates the rural nature, our communities, our ranches, our smaller communities, the outdoors, to then the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas and Reno with the neon lights.

So we have Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest captured, stars in the logo, and then a little bit of our Nevada heritage, a neon ponderosa pine in the logo as well.

- So we get to make 10,000 ornaments for the Capitol Christmas Tree.

(playful music) We are working with our partners and our local communities, our nonprofits and our school districts, as well as the counties.

NDF, they have been cutting tree cookies for us.

So a tree cookie specifically is just a branch or the bole of the tree that has been cut into small slices like this.

And so the fun thing about cookies is you can get the age of the tree using dendrochronology, and so you can count the tree rings.

So we've been bringing these cookies into our classrooms and get a little bit of conservation education in there as well as make a fun ornament for the tree.

We're looking for natural, recyclable, upcycled materials to make ornaments with, and that can be, you know, pine cones, or it can be popsicle sticks or basswood cut into the shape of Nevada.

So the possibilities are really endless.

- We are so excited about the U.S.

Capitol Christmas Tree project.

When we were given the opportunity with working with the U.S.

Forest Service, who's one of our great federal partners, we decided that this was a historic opportunity that we did not want to pass up on.

And so excited to bring people and community together through a different kind of project that highlights nature, outdoor recreation, stewardship, and conservation.

And it was just a great opportunity to bring communities together.

We have donated about $1,500 in supplies for schools, rec centers, the senior center down in Douglas County.

We have found ways to communicate that outreach and provide ornament opportunities where maybe they didn't have the money to do the projects so that they could participate in this historic event for the state.

Nevada Division of Outdoor Recreation is tasked with preservation of dark skies across the state.

And so this ornament was an opportunity to show how important dark sky preservation is to wildlife and to people's mental health and well-being, and that this is actually part of our NRS code.

And so we always want to promote dark sky preservation, and so my ornament was one way to do that.

(charming music) - The ornaments coming in are so much fun.

It sounds cliche, but it truly has been like Christmas every day because when we get an ornament dropped off in the office, or, you know, some kids are having birthday parties and they're having their friends make ornaments for the tree, and then they drop 'em off with us.

And so it's been at all spectrums of, you know, big large community events and then those small events where friends are just getting together and making ornaments.

There's just so much variation, which makes it so fun.

We've seen aliens, we've seen showgirls.

- Kids are making skis, and with the pine cones they're making cows and sheep that represent the agriculture in our state.

- You name it, we've seen it.

One ornament that we are seeing a lot of is the state outline of Nevada.

And so I did let the Architect of the Capitol know that there will be a lot of Nevada shapes on that tree, and he loved it.

He thought it was great 'cause Nevadans are really proud.

And so that is definitely coming through in the ornaments.

(bright music) It doesn't matter what level of artist you are, we accept everyone at all levels.

You know, from two years old to a hundred years old, we have had events where people have sat with us for an hour and a half making three ornaments or even making one ornament, just pouring all of their time and energy and what they love about Nevada the most into their ornament.

And then in the classrooms, it's a shorter period of time, but those students are still taking their time meticulously, picking which colors they want to use and being patient, waiting for that one color that they have in their mind.

The response from the individuals making ornaments has been the best part, truly, because going into the classrooms and talking to the students one-on-one about the importance of public lands and how special the forest is.

And so that's been truly the best part, is just connecting people to the Forest Service and specifically the Humboldt-Toiyabe.

(energetic music) Our tree skirts is a whole 'nother exciting part of the project.

We get to make four large tree skirts.

One is for the main indoor tree that will be in the Whitten Building in DC, and so that tree skirt is 15-foot diameter, which is massive.

We reached out to the Quilters Guild in Las Vegas.

They have about 300-plus members in that quilting guild.

They're working together and making a panel, and then they'll be sewing all those panels together to make a large skirt.

And then we have three other larger skirts that are 12 feet in diameter.

One of those skirts will be made by the Nevada Association of Counties, and so each county across the state took on a panel, so we'll have a large skirt representing all of the counties across Nevada.

And then the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest employees are making a 12-foot skirt as well.

And so they will represent the Humboldt-Toiyabe, the multiple uses that we have, and just kind of the things that we love about the forest, and that will come through on our tree skirt.

(uplifting music) - Nevada is known for many things, being a very art-focused state, not just with Burning Man.

We also have museums that highlight our art and our heritage, and so we wanted to bring those elements into the mix.

Our deep history and culture, as well as our natural resources, our wildlife, our plants, all those things encapsulate what we're trying to highlight, bringing in imagery of all those things into ornament making events and our tree skirts.

We wanna showcase to Nevadans and for the Whistlestop Tour as well.

- The Whistlestop Tour is basically a three-week-long tour of taking the tree from Nevada all the way to Washington, DC.

- During the Whistlestop Tour, we want the public to come out and see the tree, take photos, see Smokey Bear, gather information on what the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is about, and then also "The People's Tree" for the Americans.

(charming music) The 2025 U.S.

Capitol Christmas Tree from Nevada will be lit December 2nd on the West Lawn of the U.S.

Capitol.

- I cannot wait for the lighting of the Christmas tree.

I think it will be like Christmas morning and running down the stairs to see all the presents under the tree.

But this time we'll get to see the Capitol Christmas Tree light up.

- You know, my kids will be there, my husband will be there, and their support means everything to me.

And so I can't wait to share that moment with them, but also my coworkers and the team that I got to work on this project with.

- [Group] 3, 2, 1!

- [Member] There you go.

(group cheering) - The tree lighting ceremony itself is really the icing on the cake.

It's all the efforts of over a year in the making come into fruition and all Americans get a chance to see the beautiful ornaments that highlight our state on the West Lawn of the Capitol.

(wondrous music) - To learn more, visit uscapitolchristmastree.com.

"Quiet Film", a production team in southern Nevada, has produced a full-length documentary about Silverbell and her journey to our nation's capitol.

"From Nevada: The Journey of Our Nation's Christmas Tree" will broadcast on PBS Reno on Christmas Eve at 8pm and on Christmas Day at 3pm.

Every holiday season, people in Hidden Valley decorate their homes in big and beautiful ways for the "Parade of Lights."

During this event, families make the journey to east Reno to see the dazzling displays.

Back in 2018, the "ARTEFFECTS" team met the homeowners who won first and second place during the Parade of Lights.

(charming music) - The Parade of Lights is an event hosted by the Hidden Valley Homeowner Association, and the people dress up their homes with creative lighting, Christmas type lighting.

- Parade of Lights is where the community in Hidden Valley gets together and just decorates, and it makes no difference if you just put up one string of lights or if you decorate like I do.

(playful music) I've been decorating for approximately 50 years, and I started in Santa Cruz, California, and I started off with probably a couple of little yard ornaments and a string of lights on the house, and that was it, and just grew from there.

I've lived in Hidden Valley since 2002, and we go all out front and back for our decorations for everybody to enjoy.

- Well, as you can see in my garage, if you look around it almost looks like Santa Claus threw up in here.

We've lived here in Hidden Valley since 2007, and so we've been doing it since 2008, and this year we're adding some more pieces to our collection, so it's gonna be better than last year.

My wife Bonnie's into vignettes.

(enchanting music) We have a couple of mice with some Christmas trees behind them and they're cooking on a campfire.

And then we have ballerina, she's got skates on.

Last year we wanted to put together some sort of pond with skaters, and so we basically purchased some skaters.

We've got some other items today to put into the pond this year, so it's kind of expanding.

And then we're also into large blowups.

We have the blowups that are 14 feet tall, 12 feet tall, six feet tall.

We got this bear that hugs you out there.

Kids love it.

It's one thing to put out a bunch of lights, but it's another thing if people in viewing it actually figure out that, wait a minute, these people really are into vignettes.

So it's kind of like a slideshow, so to speak.

And as they go down, things turn into different vignettes.

So I think that's getting very artistic if you do something like that.

(enchanting music continues) - I start around the 1st of November, decorating for the Parade of Lights, and it takes a little while.

I go to Walmart, I buy lights, I go to Target, I buy lights.

I go through a place in Tennessee that's called Christmas Done Bright, Home Depot, Lowe's, wherever, doesn't make any difference.

If I like it and I see it, I buy it.

I have a 10-foot stocking with four elves that are animated, and it looks like they're climbing the ladder to go fill the stocking.

My strategy is to try to get something new every year or bring it out of retirement 'cause I've got quite a bit of decorations, so I can let something sit for four or five years and then bring it back out and then you go and you start testing everything.

Then I'll get all the stuff out for the front of the yard and make sure it's all working.

Okay, these are all ready to go.

Then I'll do the big decorations right around Thanksgiving time.

I put the train on the roof, and train's 40 foot long, and I built a frame for the train and it's quite heavy.

I assemble it on the roof and I'm not allowed on the roof unless somebody's here where they can call 911.

I've never been afraid of heights and I like it or I wouldn't do it.

- The Hidden Valley homeowner association, they have a committee that goes around and judges the houses, picks the top 10.

Every home that enters the Parade Lights contest, they seem to have their own ideas about how they should decorate their homes, and we get a lot of pleasure of going around looking at these homes because they are different.

- Last two years I've gotten first place, and then three years ago, the fellow that lives on Pebble Beach, he got first place, which is fantastic.

I'm not trying to outdo anybody, but as long as I bring happiness to people.

I've had a number of people talking about the fact that they grew up either in Hidden Valley or they grew up around town.

They knew about the Parade of Lights the way it was many years ago.

Now they have kids of their own and they're thankful about the fact that we're still doing this.

It's a good feeling.

(wondrous music continues) - The "Parade of Lights" in Hidden Valley is now celebrating its 43rd year!

Visit hiddenvalleyhomeowners.com to check out the Top Ten Homes of 2025 and to plan your visit to "The Parade of Lights."

Now it's time for this week's Art Quiz: In which year did General Electric Company begin selling pre-assembled Christmas light kits to the public?

Is the answer, A: 1895, B: 1903, C: 1911, or D: 1919?

And the answer is... B: 1903.

A.V.A.

Ballet Theatre is the resident ballet company of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts.

The company enriches our community with exposure to the arts, while coaching aspiring young artists to enjoy professional dance careers.

Back in 2016, we took you behind the scenes as A.V.A.

Ballet Theatre performed "The Nutcracker."

- A.V.A.

Ballet Theatre is the resident ballet company of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts.

We hold open auditions for anybody in the community to come audition for each one of our productions, about two months before a production will happen.

And we select all the dancers at that time and then we begin rehearsing, and we try to involve as many people as we possibly can into our productions and as many students as we can.

(lively music) - I've been dancing with A.V.A.

for 10 years, and I have done around 20 ballets with A.V.A.

Ballet, and the main one that I do every year is the "Nutcracker."

- I started to produce the "Nutcracker" in 1994, and "Nutcracker" is very fun to do every year.

The community really looks forward to it and I really enjoy doing it.

- I'm performing in the role of Clara in the "Nutcracker" this year, which is the lead role.

Each scene, she's a little bit different.

It's a range of emotions that you get to portray and show the audience and it's a lot of fun to be able to do that.

You also get to wear the costume, which is very pretty and kind of, it would help me get into the mind state of what she might be thinking.

- Inez got selected because she's always been dedicated to the art form of ballet.

She has always been reliable and respectful on stage and in the studio as well.

She is confident enough to be in front of the entire Reno Philharmonic and a 1500-seat house and pull it off.

(lively music) In the rehearsals, it's very exhausting because you know the dancers have had pretty much a full day already and they're trying to accomplish things that, you know, 7:30, 8:30 at night, which when you're exhausted and tired it's kind of hard to do.

But they do it because they love it.

It's an art form that you really have to churn and it keeps getting bigger and bigger and that's what makes dancers love to do ballet.

- Rehearsals can be long and trying.

Pointe shoes are very tough on your feet.

You get blisters and you can get overuse injuries if you're dancing too much.

Dancing on pointe is painful and difficult, but also extremely fun 'cause you're turning on maybe an inch diameter of your foot, 'cause you're all the way up on your toes and you have to be able to balance there.

You have to be able to turn and I love doing it.

- It takes them a long time to actually perfect and get into the center and do pirouettes and do developpes en pointe, and do grand renverses en pointe or just do a pique hold arabesque in a pointe shoe.

Your body weight is distributed completely differently, from on flat when they just wear their flat shoes and it's just a completely different experience for the dancer's body.

(lively music) I think the artists in the community and the parents and the students really look forward to bringing their daughter or son to actually dance with a live production with an orchestra.

And I think that only enhances the experience of seeing a ballet production because it brings the level of the company up, it brings the level of the dancers up, because they really enjoy the orchestra as well.

And I think it's a really wonderful thing for the community.

Since Reno has grown so much, my company has to grow as well, and it has been growing every single year that I put on these productions, it's just come to a whole different level now.

It's far more professional than it was before years ago.

A lot of more dedicated dancers and artists and volunteers and Reno expects that.

The community expects really good culture here now and they're getting it.

So it's my job as an artistic director to give the community what they need to see on stage and have them be proud of being here in Reno, Nevada, and proud to be part of the art scene in Reno.

(lively music continues) - To learn more, visit avaballet.com.

And that wraps it up for this edition of "ARTEFFECTS".

If you want to watch new "ARTEFFECTS" segments early, make sure you subscribe to the PBS Reno YouTube channel.

And don't forget to keep visiting pbsreno.org to watch complete episodes of "ARTEFFECTS".

Until next week, I'm Beth Macmillan.

Thanks for watching.

- [Announcer] Funding for "ARTEFFECTS" is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors, Heidemarie Rochlin, in memory of Sue McDowell, the Carol Franc Buck Foundation, and by the annual contributions of PBS Reno members.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues)