Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 22, 2005 Christmas tree scarcity leaves buyers stumped By BILL VARBLE Mail Tribune Where, oh where, have all the Christmas trees gone? On Monday, with six shopping days left before Christmas, Kathy Rowe couldn’t find a Christmas tree anywhere in Ashland. So she drove to Medford. By the time she got to Valley View Nursery in the South Gateway Center the nursery was down to its last two trees. She snapped one up. The Ashland woman stopped at the Rite Aid in town for some lights on her way home. "And there was a couple from Medford dragging the last tree in to pay for it," she says. "They’d just been looking in Medford at Valley View. They said, ‘YOU’RE the one that got the last tree.’ " Advertisement Christmas trees sold quickly in Southern Oregon this season, and if you were one of the procrastinators, it could be too late. Rowe, a nurse, says she looked at some of her usual connections, including the Grange Co-op in Ashland (live trees only) and Southern Oregon Nursery on South Pacific Highway (sold out) before she got lucky. Valley View’s Kristen Baker says trees went faster than usual this year. "Usually we have leftovers," she says Wednesday. "Not this year. I don’t know what’s going on. I probably could have sold 20 or 30 more trees the last couple days." One Christmas tree at the nursery each year is a fund-raising tree for Food and Friends, a senior nutrition program. The tree sits out all season and usually ends up in the "bird pile" with the discards. Not this year. "A guy came in and wanted it," she says. She sold the 6-foot Noble fir for $20, or about half its retail value. Sharri Griffin, of Clark’s Tree Farm off Madrone Lane near Jacksonville, says she’d sold all her trees for the year by Dec. 11th. That’s about the same time as last year. But she says people started shopping early. "We were busy the weekend of the third and fourth," she says. "Most people got them by the 9th, 10th and 11th. "If we’d brought more, we might have been able to stay open longer." "I noticed the lot across from Black Bird was all sold out, too. I heard there were some trees by the Mini Pet Mart on Stewart." Nope. The only thing at the Stewart lot Wednesday is a big mud puddle. A Mini Pet Mart employee says the tree vendor sold out several days ago. At least one man who keeps his eye on such things figures it’s all probably part of a trend back to cut trees. Brian Ostlund, of Salem, a spokesman for the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association, says there seems to be a reversal over the past three or four years of a 1990s trend to artificial trees. "It seems like one of the strongest years in quite a while," he says. "Growers are thrilled." Many retailers in Los Angeles were sold out a week ago, he says. Those who sell tress have learned to be more careful not to get stuck with unsold trees, he adds. "I heard there weren’t nearly as many vendors as in the past," Griffin says. "Maybe the last couple years they didn’t do so well. I’m not sure." All Rowe knows is, her family had a permit to cut a live tree but couldn’t get out in the woods, and then almost ran out of luck. "First it was snowing," she says. "Then it was raining, then it was the work week." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail Christmas tree scarcity leaves buyers stumped ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Online Casino Advertisement s