NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Neenah Christmas tree retailer opened its doors Friday for its 50th season of selling Christmas trees.
“This is a special year,” said co-owner Sue Schroeder, who primarily sells the trees in Neenah and grows them in central Wisconsin.
Across 50 years, Schroeder’s Forevergreens has sold thousands of trees — some landing in pretty high places. Their trees have become a centerpiece in the governor’s conference room a few times, and once, they even provided the White House Christmas Tree. Schroeder and her husband presented the tree to the Obama family in 2011.
This year, at least one of its trees will make a cross-country trek in the opposite direction.
“Obviously, these are much more fresh and look more beautiful than what we can buy in Colorado,” said Case Ferguson of Fort Collins, Colo., who bought a Christmas tree while visiting family for Thanksgiving. “Really fun to pick out the right one for our home.”
But of the dozens of trees on display Friday, most will land in modest homes in the Fox Valley — like for Paul Benoit, who brought his three young kids to help pick out a tree.
“We’ll point them in the right direction,” said Benoit.
He and his wife are buying a real Christmas tree, even if his kids are too young to fully appreciate it.
“I think it’s just more of a family activity, I suppose,” said Benoit. “Rather than pulling something out of a storage closet, make an activity out of it.”
Schroeder said the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, along with next Saturday, tend to be among the busiest days of their season. This year, getting that tree before Saturday night also means a chance to grab it before Winter Storm Beau blankets Northeast Wisconsin with snow.
“With the impending weather, hard to say,” said Schroeder on whether those days will still be the busiest.
“Depending on the impending snowstorm that’s coming, we may head out tonight or tomorrow after Thanksgiving with the family, start heading back to Colorado,” said Ferguson.
Impacted by the weather or not, it was a packed yard Friday to continue family traditions.
“We’ve put trees in lots and lots of houses over the 50 years,” said Schroeder.
