Weekend was fir the trees
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

High Country highways were busy over the weekend, with many vehicles bearing locally grown trees on their roofs.

Gary Brown of Boone made his choose-and-cut sale a family affair, recruiting his four daughters as wreath makers and his son-in-laws to help cut and haul trees. Brown, who has been selling trees for about 15 years, said business immediately following Thanksgiving was about the same as ever despite the cold weather.

“I didn’t advertise in the choose-and-cut brochure this year because I didn’t have that many trees,” he said, estimating he’d probably sell about 200 during the season. He said most of his customers are either people who have bought from him before or have heard about his farm from friends. He offers sled rides with his horse, Roscoe, and said people liked the pets and country experience at his farm.

His family makes wreaths in the garage, using Fraser fir trimmings and boxwood that was cut from a landscaping job at a cemetery. The family fields a few wholesale orders but mostly sells the wreaths to their tree customers. Susan Brown said she was “very slow and very picky,” but said,“They’re the best around.”

Hugh and Susan Holmes came up from Greensboro with their children to get a tree at Brown’s farm, a practice they’ve followed for a decade. They originally heard about High Country Christmas trees in a newspaper article. Hugh Holmes said, “We usually come for a day, always around Thanksgiving, and we eat somewhere in Boone. It’s a family tradition we’ve been doing for years and years.”

Kelly Wiley brought her son, Jackson, to Kitchen’s Tree Farm near Todd, saying she’d been getting choose-and-cut trees for about 10 years, but had only recently discovered the Kitchenses’ farm. Her husband, John, is a football coach at Appalachian State University and the Kitchenses have teaching connections at ASU.

“Somebody told me to come up here to get trees and keep it in the ASU family,” Kelly Wiley said.

The Hopkins family drove up from Greensboro to spend Thanksgiving weekend in the area. The family rented a cabin and selected its tree Friday, getting several trees for family members. Janet Hopkins said, “We started doing it as a tradition. We’ve done other ones (farms), but this is the best.”

The Kitchens farm also features hot cider and cocoa, snacks, and even Christmas carols with Anita Kitchens providing accompaniment on guitar. The barn has a sign that mentions the carols and adds, “Ask me, because I forget.”

The Kitchenses expect to sell 300 trees, and like many with smaller operations, they turn the business into seasonal jobs for other family members. They’ve been selling trees for 17 years on their 100-plus acre farm.

Jennie Hollar came from Lenior with her two children to get a tree, saying she’d come every year after Thanksgiving for at least 10 years. “I heard about this through word of mouth,” she said. “We came up for the day and we’ll do some shopping. We enjoy drinking the cider and Christmas carols in the barn.”

Hollar said the extra offerings at the Kitchens farm gave it more holiday appeal. “This is the best farm,” she said. “We’ve had the most fun today.”

Not everyone came to the area to find a tree. While plenty of black-and-gold flags were in evidence because of ASU’s home football playoff game, some took advantage of the weekend to get in a little holiday shopping.

Mia Vean from Richmond, Va., said she was in town visiting family and was buying baking supplies to make cakes. She also has high hopes for the Christmas ahead, as she’s hoping a special someone in her life is giving her not five golden rings, but one that sports a diamond.