t was cloudy and damp Wednesday morning as White House staff trudged around a Towamensing Township Farm, followed by a worker with a 20-foot measuring stick and a handful of TV crews in tow. They were there to choose a tree that will sit in the East Room this holiday.

After some discussion, and remeasuring, they finally selected an 18 1/2-foot Fraser fir.As if on cue, the sun emerged from the clouds for a minute."It's a Christmas miracle," someone joked.One of the earliest Christmas tree hunts of the year, and arguably the most significant, came to Carbon County on Wednesday.White House staff were at Bustard's to select the tree that will sit in the East Room of the White House this holiday season. The tree will be cut just before Thanksgiving.Bustard's may not be well-known to Carbon County residents, because most of their trees are sold at the family farm in the Philadelphia suburbs. But they have owned and operated a Christmas tree farm in Towamensing Township since the mid-1980s.The search was led by the White House's chief usher, Angella Reid, a former hotel executive who manages the day-to-day operations of the White House."It's going to be wonderful. Thank you," she told members of the Bustard family, after placing a red, white and blue bow on the chosen tree.Joining Reid in the search were the two men who oversee the grounds maintenance at the White House. While they choose hundreds of plants for the White House each year, the Christmas tree is by far the most visible, according to Dale Haney, the superintendent of grounds.Haney has been selecting Christmas trees for the White House an astounding 42 years. Asked if the presidents had different preferences, he shrugged."They let us choose what we think will work," he said.This year there will be upward of 40 Christmas trees throughout the White House, but the one in the East Room is by far the most prominent. It must be at least 18 feet tall - hence the measuring stick.Bustard's earned the right to provide the tree by winning the National Christmas Tree Grower's Association's 2015 grand championship. Brothers Glenn and Jay Bustard shared Wednesday's event with their family and employees.Their mother, Virginia, 88, curiously poked around the trees waiting for the selection to be made.When Reid asked her for her thoughts on the tree they chose, she joked that she was happy that she didn't have to decorate it.Joe Moyer, who has worked for Bustard's for 21 years, said that having one of the farm's trees go to Washington is about the highest honor in the business.Bustard's sells more large trees - in the 15-16 foot range - than most Christmas tree farms, he said, making them an ideal supplier for the first family's tree. Moyer said that at the other Bustard's farm, there's a field of trees that he and his co-workers referred to as the White House field.Now, the tree will be left alone until Thanksgiving week, when it will be cut and delivered to first lady Michelle Obama at the White House on Black Friday.