A visitor walks around the Capitol holiday tree, known as "the people's tree," on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol building, Dec. 19, 2004, in Washington. The 106-year-old, 70-foot red spruce from Highland County, Va., is decorated with 4,500 ornaments made by schoolchildren and citizens of the state of Virginia.
Holiday decorations and high-tech, computer-coordinated lights fill Greg Parcell's front yard in Geneva, Ill., Dec. 1, 2004.
Holiday shoppers walk along Chicago's Michigan Avenue as trees decorated for the season glow with thousands of lights, Dec. 2, 2004.
St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican is seen through the pope's Christmas tree after its lighting ceremony, Dec. 15, 2004. The 105-foot fir is more than a century old, and was given to Pope John Paul II by northern Italy's Trento region, in the Dolomites. The tree was hauled up by crane and placed next to a structure made for a life-sized nativity scene.
A snowflake Christmas decoration lights up Fifth Avenue in New York, Nov. 29, 2004.
Joel Schwartzberg holds his daughter, Mylie, next to a holiday display of a menorah and a Christmas tree in Maplewood, N.J., Dec. 16, 2004. Schwartzberg said he supports the South Orange-Maplewood school district's decision to ban instrumental Christmas carols at school-sponsored holiday concerts this year.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree stands lit framed in angels' trumpets, during the annual lighting ceremony, Nov. 30, 2004, in New York.
Third grader Rebecca Russell looks under the Idaho Christmas Tree, Nov. 30, 2004, in Boise, Idaho, while attending a lighting cermony for the tree.
Spectators huddle under an umbrella for the annual lighting of the tree at the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt., Dec. 1, 2004. The tree was donated by the Cabot Christmas Tree Farm.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, greet members of the Sacramento Children's Chorus, who had performed during the lighting of the state Christmas tree in Sacramento, Calif., Dec. 2, 2004. The 56-foot white fir, from El Dorado County, was decorated with more than 5,000 lights and 2,000 ornaments, many of which were made by people with developmental disabilites.
Fireworks light up the sky near a 46-foot Christmas tree during lighting ceremonies in Boston, Dec. 2, 2004. The tree, an annual gift from Nova Scotia, is given to the people of Boston each year as a symbol of gratitude for help that Boston offered the people of Halifax, Nova Scotia, after a munitions ship exploded in Halifax harbor on Dec. 6, 1917, leaving about 1,600 people dead.
A power boat decorated with Christmas lights floats past spectators around Fells Point in Baltimore, Dec. 4, 2004. The 17th annual Baltimore Parade of Lighted Boats featured sail and power boats decorated to usher in the holiday season.
Fireworks explode behind the Arkansas State Capitol dome during the annual lighting of the holiday lights at the Capitol, Dec. 4, 2004, in Little Rock, Ark.
Street musician Jacque Williams plays Christmas tunes on his saxophone near a large holiday wreath hanging on the Michigan Avenue bridge across the Chicago River Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004, in Chicago. The holidays are a great time to revel in Chicago's storied collection, embrace its history and enjoy its seasonal displays.
Salamon Berkowitz, founder of the Mechon Simon Foundation, lights the first candle on a giant menorah set up in front of the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, Dec. 7, 2004.
Rabbi Levi Krinsky sings during the lighting of a menorah marking the start of Hanukkah, at the Statehouse in Concord, N.H., Dec. 7, 2004.
Rabbi Rachmiel Liberman, of Congregation Lubavitch in Brookline, Mass., lights the menorah as Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, stands by during ceremonies honoring the holiday of Hanukkah at the Statehouse in Boston, Dec. 7, 2004.
Tiffany Edge, 9, reacts after she successfully entered the correct sequence to light an interactive menorah, at the Jewish Children's Museum in New York, Dec. 7, 2004. The museum, the first of its kind in the world, is "designed to introduce Jewish culture, history and traditions to children of all backgrounds."
Menachem Felzenberg, center, with Rabbis Abraham Shemtov, left, and Levi Shemtov, right, light the National Chanukah Menorah in Washington, during a ceremony marking the beginning of Hanukkah, Dec. 7, 2004. The White House is pictured in the background. Felzenberg's father, U.S. Army Captain Shmuel Felzenberg, is currently deployed in Iraq.