The crackle of the blaze was palpable as students from the five Putnam County high schools, watched a bone dry Christmas tree in a living room filled with presents burning to a crisp.
The crackle from the blaze was palpable as students from the five Putnam County high schools, Buffalo, Hurricane, Poca, Teays Valley Christian, and Winfield High watched a bone-dry Christmas tree in a living room filled with presents burning to a crisp.
The live safety demonstration was set up by the Putnam Career Technical Center’s Emergency and Firefighting Management Services Class.
Poca volunteer firefighter and EMT student Nick Felber said it can take less than 30 seconds for a dry tree to burn down most of your living room.
“A simple spark near a dry Christmas tree can present a serious fire in the household,” Felber said. “It is imperative to keep your tree well-hydrated and at a minimum of three feet away from external heat sources to lessen the chance of a Christmas tree fire.”
Felber offered other holiday safety tips involving your live Christmas tree.
“Keep it away from radiators, heating units and fireplaces,” Felber said. “Don’t put lit candles on the branches, and do not overload extension cords connecting the lights.”
Felber said practice tree safety habits to have a safe and healthy holiday season, because it only takes a moment to turn a joyful time into a tragic one.
The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree, which is the first from West Virginia in more than 40 years, will be lighted after Thanksgiving on the West Lawn, with retiring U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin as the host.
A 63-foot-tall Norway spruce from the Monongahela National Forest arrived at the U.S. Capitol Friday, capping a two-week journey that brought the big tree all over West Virginia.
The 2023 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree, a 63-foot Norway spruce from Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, arrives on the West Front Lawn. pic.twitter.com/9dTQNug0IM
The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree, which is the first from West Virginia in more than 40 years, will be lighted after Thanksgiving at 5 p.m. on Nov. 28 on the West Lawn, with retiring U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as the host.
The 8,000-pound spruce was harvested in Randolph County on Nov. 1.
A second, 40-foot Norway spruce from the Monongahela National Forest will serve as the National Christmas Tree at the Ellipse at the White House. That tree came from Tucker County and is the first from West Virginia since 1963.
“Fraser firs are basically the Cadillac of Christmas trees,” said Anne Taylor who runs the Shepherdstown location and is married to co-owner Dan Taylor. “They’re my favorites. They hold ornaments great. They look really nice decorated. They have some open spaces for larger ornaments.”
Taylor said it takes a lot of time and love to grow strong, healthy Christmas trees, and they plant thousands of new trees every spring.
“It takes about two weeks to get everything in the ground,” Taylor said. “Preparing the fields for planting, it’s about a two week procedure … We’ve never taken a spring break, because that’s when the trees come … They grow about a foot a year.”
Dan Taylor and Bryan Holler own and operate Dan and Bryan Christmas Trees. They have three locations: Shepherdstown is their main site, one is in Washington, D.C. and the other is in Chevy Chase, Maryland. All together, they own 80 acres.
Dan and Bryan Christmas Trees may have earned the coveted Blue Room spot this year, but the company has been supplying Christmas trees to help line the White House halls since 2009.
The farm’s history also goes a bit farther back than that.
Liz McCormick
/
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Dan and Bryan Christmas Trees in Shepherdstown, Jefferson County. The farm sells thousands of trees each year around the holidays.
Dan and Bryan took over the operation from Eric and Gloria Sunback who ran the farm for decades, starting in the 1960s. Formerly called Sunback Trees, the Sunback’s sold many Christmas trees to big names in Washington, D.C. including George H. W. Bush. The Sunback’s hired Dan and Bryan in 1985 and taught them everything they know, from landscaping to genetics. By 2007, Dan and Bryan took over the entire operation from the Sunbacks and renamed it Dan and Bryan Christmas Trees.
According to their website, the Sunbacks still own about 30 acres where they continue to work on tree-related genetics.
This year was the first time Dan and Bryan Christmas Trees won the White House Blue Room contest. Taylor said she, her husband Dan, and their daughter delivered the tree to the White House and met with First Lady Melania Trump.
“We had 15 minutes with her approximately, which was really nice,” Taylor said. “She was very elegant. Very down to earth. More so than you would think.”
But for Taylor, she said the highlight of every year is getting to see all the families who come out and buy their Christmas tree. This year was particularly significant because of the pandemic.
“This is an outside activity where you can be socially distanced from people in the field,” Taylor said. “Families came in groups of four or five and spent the whole afternoon out here. We had one group of people, they must not have seen each other for months, because they came, and they parked out here, and they got their trees, and then they tailgated and had a picnic. The kids played. It’s an experience for people. They love it.”
Liz McCormick
/
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
A truck at Dan and Bryan Christmas Trees hauls freshly cut trees that will be sold at either the Washington, D.C. or Chevy Chase, Maryland locations.
Dan and Bryan Christmas Trees sold between 4,000 and 6,000 trees this year, between retail and wholesale.
Their main site in Shepherdstown sold out of trees two weeks after opening for the season.
Featured song in the audio postcard is “O Tannenbaum” by Vince Guaraldi from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the Division of Natural Resources are gearing up for their 10th annual Christmas tree recycling event.
The event is set for Jan. 3 at the Capitol Market in downtown Charleston. Officials will again recycle the Christmas trees and use them to improve fish habitats across the state.
Over the years, thousands of live trees have been collected and placed in lakes across the state to improve fish habitat. This year, trees will be placed in Beech Fork, East Lynn, Stonewall Jackson, Sutton and Tygart lakes.
The recycling event brought close to 500 trees last year.
To be accepted, all decorations must be removed from the trees, including ornaments, tinsel and stands.
The state is providing a useful way for West Virginians to dispose of their Christmas trees.
The Department of Environmental Protection will collect trees and sink them in four West Virginia lakes to provide fish habitat. The Register-Herald reports that the department’s ninth annual Christmas tree recycling event is set for Jan. 4 at the Capitol Market in downtown Charleston.
According to the department, thousands of trees have been put in lakes across West Virginia to give fish a safe place to reproduce. Warmwater Fisheries Management assistant chief Bret Preston says the sunken trees also provide hiding places for small fish and attract bigger game fish for fishermen.
The trees will be placed in Beech Fork, Burnsville, Stonewall Jackson and Summersville lakes.
