It is hard to believe that we have less than a week until Christmas, and in light of the season and trying to bring a little joy, I thought I would share one of my favorite family Christmas traditions.
For practically my entire life, and going back even before I was born, my family has always made an annual journey to the Walsh Tree Farm to cut our own Christmas tree. Walsh Tree Farm has been in existence since 1958 in the small town of St. Louisville, Ohio, not far from where I grew up east of Columbus. My parents have known the Walsh’s for many years and going to the farm every year to cut our tree was the unofficial start to the Christmas season for my family. I believe my parents have gotten their tree from the farm every year since 1979 when they got married, except for one year when we lived in Parkersburg, West Virginia. My parents will tell you that the next year, we drove from Parkersburg back to Walsh Tree Farm because the tree selection is second to none! I’m not sure how we got the tree back to our house in West Virginia - probably strapped to the roof of our Chevy Caprice station wagon!
We would always go get our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, come rain, shine, or snow! Trying to find a tree, cut it, and get it home before kick-off of the Buckeyes game was always the challenge. My dad would always want to cut one of the first trees we saw as we drove onto the farm to make sure kick-off wasn’t missed, but mom wouldn’t hear of it. I have many fond memories wandering around the field with my 3 sisters, always on the hunt for the perfect tree. My family, who lives in the Columbus area, still go to the farm each year, and Lauren and I did for the first couple years of our marriage.
Now that we have started our own family and want to continue the tradition, we have decided to find a tree farm a little closer to home. Now, Lauren, Harvey, Miles, and I head to the Pine Tree Barn, in search of our perfect Christmas tree. Walking around through the field with a 3 and 1 year old in tow makes me wonder how my parents did it all those years with 4 of us! I know that for me, going to the farm, finding our family tree, cutting it down and bringing it home to decorate it together, are some of my fondest memories of the Christmas season when I was growing up. My hope is that our kids will remember it with fondness too and continue our family’s tradition for many years to come into the future.
For those of you in central Ohio or with friends or family there, here is a link to the Walsh Tree Farm website. http://walshchristmastreefarm.com/index.html
And for our friends and clients in Northeast Ohio, the Pine Tree Barn:
