 For the first time in the history of the tree lighting ceremony, a non-American choir (the Festival Singers of Toronto) performed at the opening event.The National Christmas Tree used a blue, white, and yellow lighting scheme in 1968.When President Johnson lit the National Christmas Tree, this caused another Christmas tree to be lit remotely by radio control in the newly electrified village of Nulato, Alaska (one of 59 rural Eskimo villages to receive electricity for the first time that year).