BY LUCIE KRISMAN
In just one day, 284 Christmas trees left the grounds of Evening Star Pines, setting a new record for the Christmas tree farm’s number of trees sold in a day.
"In 35 years that has never happened, " said co-owner Sherry Crawford.
Evening Star Pines opened Nov. 27 and was open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Nov. 30. Over the weekend, the farm sold nearly 500 trees and is now closed for the season. The Evening Star Pines shop's 25 wreaths also quickly sold out on opening day.
Christmas tree farms across the country are seeing a surge in demand as families look for safe ways to celebrate the holiday season — Boston, Charlotte, Detroit and Chicago all reported farms selling out quickly, among other parts of the country.
Despite the high number of customers over the Thanksgiving weekend, Crawford said the large size of the farm made it easy for residents to safely find their Christmas trees while maintaining social distancing.
"People can bring their families and social distance out in the field," Crawford said. "There's plenty of room to spread out."
Aside from social distancing, Evening Star Pines implemented COVID-19 safety measures such as requiring masks in the shop, providing paper masks and hand sanitizer and maintaining a limit of only one or two families inside the shop at a time.
Evening Star Pines will reopen for the 2021 holiday season. For now, Crawford said she is taking the chance to recuperate after a record breaking weekend and a unique holiday season for the 35-year-old business.
"We're extremely tired," Crawford said. "It was just plain crazy."
Reach reporter Lucie Krisman at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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