By Sarah Roebuck
Police1
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A video of determined deputies hauling a large tree into the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office’s lobby is going viral.
In a video posted to the sheriff’s office Facebook page, around 10 deputies can be seen carrying the tree through the lobby entrance, but how the tree came to be is something of a holiday tale.
In a social media post, Sheriff John Feyen said a majority of the staff, 549 out of 550 employees, stated they were in favor of bringing in a tree to spruce up the empty lobby for the holidays.
The one person who was initially against the idea was the sheriff himself, stating he was not a Scrooge but he believed trees belong in the forest.
In an effort to get the sheriff to change his mind, deputies started placing small trees in the lobby. This continued for a couple of weeks until the sheriff’s office had a tree similar to the “Charlie Brown” tree. That’s when Feyen gave in.
“So I caved! I gave them permission to bring in a Christmas tree. Now, before you go blasting this post with comments comparing me to the ‘Once-ler’ (Dr. Seuss story, The Lorax), know this tree was slated to come down anyway due to wildfire mitigation. And I thought it would bring joy to the agency,” Feyen said.
Feyen said his one rule was to make sure the deputies didn’t break anything, so a group of them orchestrated efforts to safely bring in the tree, get it put up in the lobby and decorated, just in time for the holidays.
“The smiles were AMAZING!” Feyen said.
Since the social media post was made on Dec. 20, Feyen said media outlets from around the world have picked up the story.