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NEWS
Christmas tree sales start early
Volunteers Sydney Verar and Chuck Hanshaw help find a tree for a customer during the 29th annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Christmas Tree Sale on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in Huntington.
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HUNTINGTON -- It was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. OK, at least in Palm Beach.
With Sunday's sunny skies and unseasonably warm temperatures that almost reached 70 degrees, folks began the hunt for a green December.
With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror and December arriving on Tuesday, Christmas tree retailers saw the first weekend rush to find that perfect live Christmas tree for the living room.
Sunday afternoon, Cub Scout and Boy Scout volunteers from Pack and Troop 21 (based out of First United Methodist Church) were out at the Big Brothers, Big Sisters lot at BB&T Bank, 6th Avenue and 1st Street in Huntington.
Cub Scouts were waving pine boughs with the group chant, "Buy a tree, help a kid."
Paul Russell, one of the adult leaders who was there along with Grace Gooding and Chuck Hanshaw, said volunteering to help out the organization has been a tradition for more than a decade with the troop.
Russell said Sunday's warm weather brought out good crowds with 11 trees sold in a two-hour span before the Scouts arrived and then five sold in the first 45 minutes when they took over the lot for a three-hour shift.
"Something that we've discovered with the people who are coming is that they want a live tree, but they really want to give to the Big Brothers, Big Sisters," he said. "They are anxious to give to such a good organization."
Hanshaw said they had a couple Sunday that drove from Buffalo, W.Va., to Huntington to get a tree at the lot, which sells white pines, scotch pines and Fraser firs from about 51/2 feet to 10 feet tall.
Hanshaw said about 90 percent of the trees at the lot are from Virginia, and about 10 percent were locally grown.
Big Brothers, Big Sisters is also selling trees at Eastern Heights Shopping Center, U.S. 60 in Huntington; and at the Ashland Tennis Center, 13th Street and Oakview Road in Ashland.
Hours are noon to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekends. For additional information, call 304-522-2191, 606-329-8799 or visit www.bbbstristate.org.
The organization is just one of many places to get live Christmas trees in the Tri-State.
In Cabell County, Boy Scout Troop 63 is selling Fraser firs and green spruce trees in the Big Kmart parking lot on U.S. 60 East between Huntington and Barboursville.
The original Stewart's Hotdogs location also sells live Christmas trees, and you can cut your own at Christmas tree farms in Lawrence County, Ohio, and near Milton as well.
K. Dickess Christmas Tree Farm started selling homegrown spruce and fir Christmas trees on Nov. 7, and is now open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
Located on County Road 61 in Andis, the tree farm sells Scotch Pines up to 14 feet tall, White Pines up to 8 feet tall and Colorado Spruce and firs up to 9 feet tall.
Call 740-867-4931 or go online at www.kdickesstreefarm.com.
Located just a few minutes off of U.S. 60 in Milton is Jarvis Christmas Tree Farm, run by David and Sharon Jarvis.
The farm on Saunders Creek Road is now open weekends for folks to come out and pick a White and Scotch pine, Norway and blue spruce and the Canaan fir.
For more info, call 304-743-6064.
No matter where you get your live Christmas tree, the West Virginia Division of Forestry recommends these tips for keeping it healthy.
You should cut at least one inch off of the main stem before you bring the tree into the house.
Place the tree in a stand designed to hold water or in a bucket of clean sand to which water can be added. Fresh pine and firs will hold their needles for several weeks when treated in this fashion. Spruces will hold their needles for at least two weeks.
