It is Christmas Tree Season

by Bill Tobin 12/3/12

The perfect Christmas tree is available right here in Holliston.

Arcadian Farm, MacArthur's, Outpost and the PTSA have a great selection of Christmas trees.  Check them out.

There is no need to travel to the mall, big box stores or a neighboring town to find the perfect Christmas tree.  Shop in Holliston.  "Buy Local."

Arcadian Farms on Norfolk Street has Fraser and Balsam and some Caanan firs that are considered to be local, as they were cut within the past two weeks in Rhode Island.

The trees vary in size from table top to eight feet tall, ranging in price from $20-$75, averaging at $47.50 plus tax.

Out Post Farm on Prentice Street has a large selection of Balsam firs from Nova Scotia and some "live" trees as well. I still have a "live" tree from Christmas '73.

The trees at Out Post Farm range in size from five feet to ten feet and are priced from $28-$70, tax included. Check the color of the tag on the tree.  For example red tags are $28 at five feet, orange are seven feet for $40. 

MacArthur's Farm on Concord Street also has a large assortment of Balsam and Fraser firs from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada.

They range in size from three feet to twelve feet with a price tag of $25 plus tax for the three-footer and $95 plus tax for a ten-footer.  The 12-footer is priced accordingly. An added attraction on the first and second weekends in December is live entertainment by the Jazz Band from Roslindale.

The Parents Group has a selection of Balsams, Fraser and Douglas trees for $40, $50, $60 and $70, available on Railroad Street at the end of Elm Street. These trees are tax free. The proceeds from this annual tree sale benefits Holliston High School PTSA, a worthy cause indeed. If you do not want a tree this year, but wish to support the PTSA, buy a tree, leave it on the lot and the PTSA will donate your sale to the Holliston Food Pantry.

In the early seventies there was a Fathers' Club made up of fathers of Holliston High School students that raised funds to pave the track at the high school, honor a student of the month and serve various unmet needs of the high school students. Sometime in the early eighties, mothers were allowed to join this esteemed group and the name was changed to Parents Club. All during this time, this Club sold Christmas trees as a fund raiser, usually behind the Depot Package store. One year the site was changed to the Gates' garage, next to Norman's, where Dunkin D's is now. This is noted just for historical reasons.
 
Back to the Depot site. A couple of members of the "Club" were employed by Boston Edison and somehow arranged to have flood lights installed on telephone poles to illuminate the Christmas tree sale site. Those lights are still in place.

The Fathers Club/Parents Club then morphed into the Parents Group, which now is part of the PTSA. This is the group that now is selling Christmas trees at the Depot site to benefit students.

Arcadian, Out-Post and MacArthur's all have an assortment of wreaths, kissing-balls, center pieces, swags, green rope, cemetery decorations and so much more for holiday decorations.

Fraser fir has a blueish tint.  The traditional Balsam is greener, with smaller needles and is more apt to shed. Remember to freshen the cut on the trunk, place it in water and keep it watered.

 So buy your Christmas tree locally and support Holliston businesses and causes.

 Merry Christmas... 

Posted in Local Lore, Marketplace.

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