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Article: How lovely are your branches: Tree farmers sell tradition; Whether buyers want spruce, pine or balsam fir, Christmas tree growers have to be ready.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
- Article date:
- December 24, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Star Tribune Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Since becoming executive director of the Minnesota Christmas Tree Growers Association a year ago, Pat Olive is getting used to getting needled.
That's because she and her husband call their Christmas tree business in Stacy, Minn., the Olive Tree Farm. "We get chuckles," she said - enough that she'll suggest a name change when they convert their 6,000-tree operation to a choose-and-cut lot in a few years. "We could call it Arthur's," after her husband's first name, she said.
Despite the German carol, "O Tannenbaum," that celebrates trees whose "leaves are so unchanging," change is an evergreen for Minnesota's 200 to 300 Christmas-tree growers. If ...