this year we have brigette harrington from hillsboro. ontest with her palm about oregon's outdoors and what oregon's outdoors mean to her. i would like her to come up and read a few lines from her poem. [applause] >> 'twas the month before christmas and all through my mind swirled thoughts of my oregon all intertwined the four seasons how extraordinary each one-of-a-kind plus memories galore for my mind to read wide the winter have beautiful the snow began to fall i quickly grabbed my mittens to make a chilly snowball the snowman we created sat proudly in my yard. he stayed there until he melted, a snowy, frosty guard. [applause] ♪ [instrumental o christmas tree] ms. merdon: thank you for coming to tonight's ceremony. joining us, the united states navy band, and the young brigette in lighting the capitol christmas tree. on friday, and author with her book on how feminism lost touch. and on saturday, the view from flyover country. chris withay, author american overdose. join us for authors week each morning this week on washington journal.

this year, we have brigette harrington from hillsboro. contest with her about oregon's outdoors and what oregon's outdoors mean to her. at this time, i would like to ask brigette to come up and read a few lines from her poem. [applause] >> 'twas the month before christmas and all through my mind swirled thoughts of my oregon all intertwined the four seasons how extraordinary each one-of-a-kind plus memories galore for my mind to rewind the winter have beautiful the snow began to fall i quickly grabbed my mittens to make a chilly snowball the snowman we created sat proudly in my yard. he stayed there until he melted, a snowy, frosty guard. the raindrops have a pattern, the wind gusts how they blew in oregon this makes us special, through and through so don't be disappointed, for it can bring such joy they are better than a toy in thinking of the springtime birds began to chime the tulips and the daffodils made for a colorful time. it was time to plant my garden, the seeds went in the ground, i watched each day as plants popped up and roots