Montana 4-H has sent many green-clad youth ambassadors to visit the nation's capital, but this year, one representative of Montana has branches and ornaments.

When Betsy Heckel, a Gallatin County 4-H volunteer and mother of two 4-H members visited Washington D.C. last winter, she got to see the national Christmas tree and the 50 smaller state trees that are displayed each year. Surprised that Montana's tree didn't have a distinctly Montana theme, she looked into who provided its decorations. Dillard's department store in Billings, which had donated the ornaments in previous years, was happy to pass the honor to 4-H youth volunteers.

Gallatin County 4-H'ers were eager to embrace the creative challenge of making Montana-inspired ornaments to represent their state. Interested 4-H members and their families made uniquely Montanan decorations to fill each of 50 clear plastic globes provided by the Department of the Interior.

They gathered in November to fill the baubles with their decorative emissaries and sent them off in time to grace this year's Montana tree. The resulting collection included all sorts of subjects that the volunteers were proud to share with the rest of the nation: among them Montana wildlife, historical figures like Lewis and Clark, a host of outdoor sports and, of course, lots of snow.

Todd Kesner, Gallatin County's MSU Extension 4-H agent, said that timing this year didn't allow for a coordinated statewide effort, but that next year Gallatin County hopes to share the privilege of creating Montana-made ornaments with other 4-H youth across the state.

With nearly 13,000 club members and more than 4,000 volunteers, there are plenty of hands to get the job done.