CHOOSING A FRESH Christmas tree in Eldersburg can be as simple as driving to the local nursery, gas station or mall parking lot, where beautiful, fragrant trees are abundant. The number of lots seems to grow each year with the growing population.
Matt and Lou Ann Helminiak brought their son, Mark, 18 months, to Dixon's Flowers Inc. on Route 32 in Sykesville on Saturday to choose their first live tree, possibly marking the beginning of a family tradition.
Dixon's has both live trees (with a root ball) and cut trees on their lot. The Helminiaks thought it would be nice to bring home a live tree this year to celebrate the first Christmas in their Eldersburg home. They are also anticipating the arrival of their second child in a few weeks. The planted Christmas tree, they hope, will serve as a remembrance of this Christmas for years to come.
Their relatives, Dennis and Jennifer Norris, also were there to buy a live tree for planting. Bev Johnson of Dixon's cautioned the two couples about keeping their trees in a cool area once inside the house, so the trees would remain dormant and not die when they are returned to the outside cold. She told them the trees should be kept indoors for only a week to 10 days before planting them outside.
After the details of caring for the live trees were explained to them, Dennis Norris said, "I never expected that there was all this to it." As he spoke, he watched Johnson maneuver a forklift to hoist the two trees into the back of the Helminiaks' truck.
"They ought to be fun to take back out," Matt Helminiak said jokingly as he watched the truck dip under the weight of the two trees.
Edwin Jeffries, his wife, Ann, and daughter Jennifer, 10, briefly considered a live tree, but opted for a more convenient, less costly, cut tree. Ann Jeffries said they always choose a cut tree, and sometimes enjoy going to a tree farm to cut their own. This year, the family chose to pick up their tree from the tree lot, saving a great deal of time and energy.
An inch was trimmed off the base of the tree, to allow the tree to soak up water and stay fresh through the holiday. It was loaded into the trunk of their car within minutes of their selection.
But the die-hard tradition of hiking into the outdoors, finding the perfect tree, cutting it and wrestling it back to the car remains very popular and provides fond family memories years later. For Dan and Sue Neubauer of Eldersburg and their three children, the annual trip to a local tree farm involves choosing and cutting not only their tree, but also two others for both sets of grandparents.
They have been cutting their own trees since they were married in 1980 and say they'll continue their tradition in spite of occasional suggestions from the grandparents that a "fake" tree might be a lot easier. Sue Neubauer says that her children prefer the traditional trek through the cold and look forward to the occasion.
Even though artificial trees offer more convenience, even coming strung with lights right out of the box, beloved traditions are hard to break. Neubauer said she couldn't imagine Christmas with an artificial tree.
For families like the Neubauers, the natural greenery and fresh fragrance of a real tree, mixed with fond memories of their Christmas ritual, make the fresh Christmas tree worthy of the additional effort.
Visits from Santa
In spite of the ice storms and recent wintry weather, Sykesville-Freedom District Fire Department continued its yearly neighborhood Santa visits with a volunteer firefighter dressed as Santa riding aboard a firetruck. As Santa rides through the neighborhood, he distributes candy to adults and children that come to see him pass.
According to volunteer firefighters Steve Dunn and Ryan Dyson, the recent snow and ice storms interfered with some of the runs, but the department had allowed for makeup days in their schedule. Such days are needed for bad weather or the possibility that the Santa detail has to respond to a call. Each year, Santa's truck is considered in-service, and even Santa is prepared with proper firefighting gear, if needed.
Dunn said he recalled one year when the Santa detail was detoured to a carbon dioxide call. After responding to the call, the firefighter dressed as Santa came out of the house and handed out candy to the gathering neighborhood children.
The neighborhoods missed due to the recent bad weather can expect to see Santa on Thursday and Friday. The visiting begin at 7 p.m. and ends by 9 p.m.
Information: 410-795-9311.
Debra Taylor Young's neighborhood column appears each Tuesday in the Carroll County edition of The Sun.