A 16-foot Veitch-Balsam cross evergreen grown at Cornerstone Pines in Grey Eagle is scheduled to arrive at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul at 10 a.m. on Monday, where it will stand in the Capitol rotunda throughout the 2026 holiday season. The farm earned the honor after growing the Minnesota State Fair's grand champion Christmas tree this year.
As reported by WJON, Cornerstone Pines is owned and operated by Chuck and Cathy Parker, who have run the Grey Eagle farm since 2008. Veitch-Balsam cross trees like the one headed to St. Paul are known for their fragrance and soft, jewel-green needles, a quality that likely helped it stand out among entries at the fair. According to the Minnesota State Fair, the annual Christmas tree competition awards top prizes across categories for decorated and undecorated trees and wreaths, drawing growers from across the state.
Beyond the one tree bound for the Capitol, Cornerstone Pines also welcomes visitors who want to choose and cut their own trees, and the farm offers horse-drawn wagon rides, family activities and visits from Santa during the season, per the same outlet's report.
A Decades-Old Honor Rooted In State Fair Judging
The trip from tree farm to rotunda isn't new for Minnesota's grand champions. A Minnesota Department of Agriculture representative told MPR News in 2019 that the tradition of bringing the winning tree to the Capitol dates back to the early 1980s. That year, a 17-foot balsam fir from Happy Land Tree Farms in Sandstone was the one carried into the rotunda.
The selection process itself runs through the State Fair every year. As Agweek has reported, the winning tree is chosen at the fair by a panel of volunteer consumer judges, and that win alone earns the grower the honor of seeing their tree installed in the Capitol rotunda.
Last Year's Tree Offers A Point Of Comparison
Minnesota's 2025 Capitol tree came from Turck's Trees of Litchfield, which won grand champion at that year's State Fair, marking a first-time honor for the farm, according to Agweek. More than 120 entries from Minnesota Christmas Tree Association members around the state competed for the title that year, per the Duluth News Tribune.
Reports on that tree's exact height differ: the Duluth News Tribune described it as a 17-foot balsam fir, while Agweek reported it as an 18-foot balsam fir grown on a family farm in Litchfield. The Duluth paper noted the tree was delivered on Nov. 25, 2025, and was set to be decorated on Dec. 1, remaining on public view in the rotunda through the holiday season.
This year, it's Grey Eagle's turn. With Cornerstone Pines' Veitch-Balsam cross set to take its place among the marble columns of the Capitol rotunda, Minnesotans visiting St. Paul this winter will find another chapter in a tradition that has connected state fairgrounds to the seat of government for more than four decades.
