MISSOULA – Thanksgiving has come and gone and more and more folks are strapping to the roofs of their cars in preparation for Christmas.
Reporter Lauren Heiser spent Sunday at one of Missoula’s local plant nurseries learning more about how the Christmas tree plays a role in tradition.
The weeks following Thanksgiving can be a crazy time of year with many folks switching their fall decorations out for Christmas ones and that, of course, includes a Christmas tree.
The owner of Pink Grizzly Nursery in Missoula, Shane Clouse, says the first weekend after Thanksgiving they helped more than 100 customers find their perfect tree but that he wouldn’t consider it their busiest days this season.
By next weekend, he expects to be helping 300 customers a day.
“Our family’s been here since 1956 in we’ve been selling Christmas trees since 1980. so a lot of people that raise their kids here now their kids are having children,” Clouse said.
“And they have the grandkids and great grandkids that come here to get a Christmas tree so it becomes part of happy transportation for folks and we like being a part of that,” he added.
For Clouse and his crew tradition plays a huge role in their work.
“I’m from Arizona so it was more like Christmas around the cactus. I always go with a real tree these days. I like it a lot…it really livens up the house.,” employee Dylan Nuzam said.
Dylan and the other employees agree that there’s not much that can beat the look and aroma of a fresh cut tree. For Courtney Latham’s family, traditions have often been centered around the Christmas tree.
“We all get together and decorate it every year put the lights on and we’ve got lots of ornaments. It’s not really about gifts you get or anything. It’s about family and being together during that time while you can,” Latham told MTN News.
At Pink Grizzly, you can also find many items such as custom wreaths, ornaments and other Christmas decor.
You can also get your trees at places like Shopko and Rosaurs in the coming weeks.
Reporting by Lauren Heiser for MTN News
