HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-12-22, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2011.Cutting your own tree still popular in Huron
Christmas is a time for family
gathering and traditions and what is
more Canadian than pulling on your
warmest mitts and hat, wrapping a
scarf around 90 per cent of your face
and finding that perfect tree?
Provided you avoid any Chevy
Chase-esque predicaments on the
way home from finding the tree, it
can be a great way to spend time as
a family and, with Mathers’ tree lot
just north of Belgrave, there’s no
reason to not make this part of your
family’s Christmas practices.
Whether you’re in the market for a
seven-foot tall pine, like the Willis
family from Goderich was, or a 20
foot tall tree for the lobby of a localchurch, finding the right tree is a bitcliché – it’s all about the journey.“We’ve always had a live tree,
both me and my husband, and we’ve
been doing this with our family for
10 years,” Debbie Willis said. “It just
doesn’t smell like Christmas without
a real tree.”
“We’ve never had artificial,”
Debbie’s husband Dan said. “It just
wouldn’t feel right.”
Debbie and Dan, as well as
children Amy and Jamie, scoured
Arnold Mathers’ lot for the perfect
tree and found it in their 20 year old
scotch pine tree, which has been
trimmed 15 times since being
planted.
“It feels more like Christmas whenwe come and do this,” daughter Amysaid. “It’s more fun getting a realtree and I get to go on the
snowmobiles.”
“It’s a really big deal for our
family,” Debbie said.
Amy agreed, stating that she can
remember usually being the first
people to get to the lot in a day and
often the last to leave.
This year the family broke
tradition a little, but usually they
make a real event out of coming to
the lot, finding their tree and taking
it back to their Goderich home.
“We usually have hot chocolate
and cookies to take in the van on the
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Happy
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and thank you for your patronage
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The start of a Christmas Vacation
Amy and Jamie Willis of Goderich visited Mather’s Christmas Tree lot in mid-December to get
the fir for their family room. The Willis family has been visiting the lot, which is just north of
Belgrave, for years and see the outing as a family experience. (Denny Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 12