Terri "Teese" Austin Winbolt, center left, holds a sign she made for her brother, Fred Austin, center right, as they stand at the truck he is driving to deliver the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree from Alaska to Washington, D.C. Austin and his colleague in the truck cab John Schank stopped in Loveland, Colorado on Nov. 12, where sisters, Mary Austin Zawloki, left, and Tina Austin Hickey, right, also visited with their brother.
WRANGELL - Kids keep asking John Schank if he's Santa.
"I can't lie to them," he laughed. "But I say, 'I'm just his helper.'"
John Schank is 72. He has a big white beard and has been driving for Lynden Transport for 49 years. He and Fred Austin, another longtime Lynden driver, are transporting the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree and its 82-foot sled - trailer - from Seattle to Washington, D.C.
This is Schank's second time driving The People's Tree from Alaska to Washington, D.C. He was selected to drive the rig back in 2015 when the selected tree hailed from the Chugach National Forest.
While stop...
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