REGINA – Picking out the perfect, live Christmas tree is an art form.
Choices of Spruce, Pine or Fir, range from five or six feet tall to even 12 or more.
Buyers say they’ll never go fake.
“They don’t smell the same,” said one person.
“It just seems more like Christmas.”
Most communities have a number of live-tree lots.
One in Regina found itself a few needles short this week, when thieves stole 30 trees from a Y’s Men’s Club charitable tree lot. The loss was worth about $2,250.
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“The tree sales is our fundraiser,” said Ted O’Brien, a lot volunteer. “We’ve used it to help improve Christmas for many people, but also support different activities over the years.”
Those gifts that fund sports teams and diabetes research were stolen by a Grinch.
But even Dr. Suess’ version didn’t take 30 of them, especially at a time when fresh-cut tree sales are on the decline and synthetic sales are only going up.
Most people say they’ve made the switch.
“I’ve got animals, so I don’t like the (needles) all over the place,” said one person who prefers artificial trees, which often come with lights already attached.
The Y’s Men’s Club is only selling about a third of the trees it did decades ago, but they’ll be back next year – and so will those who say real is best.
“I think they’d miss the smell of a live Christmas tree,” said O’Brien.
“There’s nothing like it.”
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