One of the most recognizable symbols of the December holiday period — the Christmas tree — can be seen on car roof tops, if not already in windows of homes complete with decorations and all, with regularity as December 25 fast approaches.

Time is running out for families or individuals to get their green, festive, scented reminder of the season. In Newtown, there are several options for residents and nonresidents alike, including family-owned, cut-your-own tree farms.

While big wet snow flakes created a surreal snow globe effect, a group of friends from Bethel — Caitlin Graaf, Andrew Moore, Jen Castonguay, and Greg Osborne — this week worked together to find a couple of trees for their apartments during a visit to Paproski’s Castle Hill Farm at 25 Sugar Lane.

“It’s amazing to come out and I like that it’s snowing. This is my favorite part of Christmas — coming out and finding a tree,” Mr Moore said.

Snow or not, hunting for a tree is an enjoyable activity for many. A little patience, a good strong saw, and some planning ahead with gloves, rope and a roof rack, or truck are about all it takes. A good memory or a willingness to mark prospective trees with bright hats, scarves, or whatever it takes, is also a good idea for those who look around in a large location for that ideal tree. They are grown in rows, and it is easy to get disoriented as to where that first or second favorite tree is without landmarks.

Additional options include, but are not limited to, Medridge Tree Farm at 113 Walnut Tree Hill Road in Sandy Hook and Sam’s Tree Farm at 138 Huntingtown Road. There are also other area farms and roadside stands with precut trees. Most farms — big and small — provide saws, and have the equipment to wrap trees for easier transport (not to mention less trouble fitting the new/temporary tenant through the door once home), and twine of some sort for getting the tree there.

“There’s nothing like getting a freshly cut tree,” says Julia Wasserman, owner of Medridge Tree Farm, adding that some customers come to her land in November to tag their trees and return closer to Christmas to ensure having a fresh one for the holiday.

Steve Paproski, owner of Castle Hill Farm, says families are welcome to bring dogs on leashes, and their dog, Kapusta, a border collie, greets customers. Visitors also can see farm animals such as cows and sheep. The farm actually has two locations, including at the original 5 Hattertown Road address.

The most commonly found species of tree at Newtown farms is the spruce, especially white and blue varieties, as area tree growers/farmers find that is a hardier variety than some of the others, including firs, so they stand up to deer.

Mr Paproski’s family grows some Frasier firs, but “the deer just love them,” he notes.

And that is a problem for area tree growers.

“We do have a lot of deer,” points out Janis Nezvesky, an owner of Sam’s Tree Farm, who runs the business along with her brothers Jay and Joel, and says the farm has been in operation since about 1960.

“We maintain it because this was my father’s dream for his retirement,” said Ms Nezvesky, whose dad spent many of his retirement days working on the farm throughout the years. Now that the siblings taken over, it is a little tricky given they all have careers to work around, but the family members find enjoyment in keeping the tradition, and trees, alive.

Dr Louis Wasserman, Julia’s late husband, started Medridge Tree Farm as a hobby some 35–40 years ago, Mrs Wasserman said. She says there are lots of returning customers year after year, but that fewer and fewer trees are sold every season. She still sells about a few hundred per year. Part of the reason for the declining numbers, she says, is the emergence of artificial trees. “They are my competition because, even though they’re fake trees, some of them are beautiful,” Mrs Wasserman admits, adding that some come already prepared with decorations and lights. “It’s a totally different experience.”

Another factor in fewer trees being sold at her farm each year is the fact there are more and more locations, including stores such as Stew Leonard’s, selling trees, Mrs Wasserman adds. Other businesses such as Bethel’s Hollandia Nurseries and are Home Depot stores also sell precut varieties.

Going to a farm to cut down a tree is a nice activity for families all of the local tree growers point out.

“It’s a great experience for the children,” Mrs Wasserman says.

Lots Of Work

Sure, trees grow pretty much on their own, but they do require plenty of TLC.

“It’s a tremendous amount of work involved. It’s not just planting a tree — that’s the easy part,” notes Mr Paproski.

The trees require pruning, spraying for pests, and maintenance of the grounds the trees grow on — for eight, ten, maybe a dozen years until a tree is cut for a spot in a living or family room.

“They grow about a foot a year,” said Ms Nezvesky, noting that the spruce is the variety that grows best in Newtown’s overall rocky terrain.

Mrs Wasserman has 25 acres of trees. Maintaining a Christmas tree farm is “a tremendous amount of work,” said Mrs Wasserman, who has trees as tall as 25 feet high.

Mr Paproski says the trees they plant are transplants from tree nurseries, and are about four years old at the time they are put into the ground, so they’ve got a good start already.

With seven acres and about 7,000 trees, each replaced by a new planting after one has been cut down, there is plenty to do in the offseason. Mr Paproski says he takes a chainsaw to the left-behind stumps and mows the land between trees. “There’s a lot involved,” he said.

“It’s like anything else — the more you put into it, the nicer the trees are,” he said.

The white spruce is what Mr Paproski calls the “traditional Christmas tree,” and notes that it has shorter needles than the blue spruce, which he explains possesses longer, heavier needles. The Norway spruce has soft needles, he adds.

He says the farm sells approximately 300 to 400 trees per season, and he has even sold trees after Christmas, to families that come looking for a house decoration after returning to town from vacations.

Mr Paproski operates the farm along with his wife, Diana, and their children Stephanie and Shannon (fourth generation family members involved with the farm). They grow pumpkins and also have a corn maze for a festive fall season.

The Nezvesky family includes Ryan, Blake, Emily, Val, Kim, Brandy, Jake, Aaron, and Jayden Nezvesky, along with Floren Schertzer. They have about ten to 11 acres

Mrs Wasserman said she also got the Sandy Hook Fire Company into the business of selling trees as part of its fundraising efforts when she donated 100 trees to the department about a decade ago. (The fire and rescue company continues to sell trees, and other seasonal items, as a fundraiser but now uses a different farm as its main source.)

Castle Hill Farm is open weekdays from 2 to 5 pm and weekends from 9 to 5 pm. Cut-your-own trees are $50, including tax, and precut varieties are $45 and up.

 At Sam’s Tree Farm, hours are 9 am to 4:30 pm every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. All trees are $25.

Medridge Tree Farm is open from noon until 4 pm on Fridays and from 10 am to 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Trees up to ten feet tall cost $40 plus tax.