 Middlebury College alumni paid to have it shipped via express to Washington.The branches on the lower of the tree were damaged in transit, so cut branches from a local evergreen were tied to the tree to restore its appearance.Feiker put together a group of local civic organizations to erect the tree in the center of the Ellipse and decorate it, and the U.S. electrical industry donated $5,000 worth of electrical cables (which were buried under the Ellipse and provided the tree with electricity).