Shepardsville, KY.-- O' Christmas tree O'Christmas tree! The beauty and wonder is something that Elizabeth WerKmeister Shafer has made her life’s work.
- Christmas trees date back to the 1500's
- 98% of Christmas trees are grown on farms
- Live Christmas trees have been sold commercially since the 1850's
Growing, selling, and taking in their intoxicating scent is all she's known since sixth grade.
She tells me her parents started Weirkmeister Christmas tree farm decades ago in Shepardsville.
"We use to have cattle my brother went away for college and nobody showed up to help my dad unload a truckload of hay and decided this was for the birds and that's when they decided to start selling Christmas trees," Weirkmiester said.
The process begins long before she wraps the trees up for families and sends them on their way.
The are the seedlings that will eventually be hand cut and sold for sixty dollars each no matter what their size and everyone who stops by agrees it's worth the price.
"We are a part of a lot people's families and traditions for thirty years we are seeing grandkids people who came as little kids now they are bringing their kids here today," Weirkmiester said.
We caught up with Curtis Texas family, this is their third year at the farm.
"It's kind of the start of the holiday for us as soon as we get that tree up then we string the lights and then we decorate the rest of the house and then we start outside and we usually drink some hot chocolate, eat some popcorn, and watch a Christmas movie. All the fun corny holiday things that we love to do," Curtis said.
They haven't always gotten a live tree but says there is truly no comparison if you have the time.
"I love the way that it smells for sure I love waking up to that cedar aroma all through my house so that's pretty great,' Curtis said.
But it's a tradition that could be dwindling down in the years to come.
Nearby tree farms have closed and nature sometimes rears its ugly head.
"I was the only one as part of the Christmas tree farmer's association that still had Douglas firs because of a fungus came in and dropped all the needles on the inside of the tree so people just clear cut their trees and burned them to get rid of them so it didn't affect any of the other species in the farm. I still have Douglas firs but I did just clear cut 250 trees this fall," Weirkmiester said.
And right now they are only about 100 left on the farm after selling a couple hundred this weekend but Werkmeister plans to be there until every tree leaves the lot and sometimes the calls aren't just local.
Folks have called from Louisiana to North Carolina wanting to make the trip to the farm and many have even become repeat customers.
"Life is busy we don't always get to see each other throughout the year but we know Christmas tree season comes around and we are all going to get together, " Weikmiester said.
And one important lesson the Curtis Texas family has learned is something to keep in mind when it's time for that tree to come down.
"We learned this our first year you have to take it outside to bag it first because I think I was cleaning up pine needles till about spring.
The Werkmesiter Christams tree farm is open on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm.