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Tree sellers counting the sleeps until Christmas

If you thought it was tough picking out a Christmas tree every year, try being the guy selling it to you. The people who work the Christmas tree yards put in 11-hour days from late November until Dec.
GROWING GREEN
Ben Lemphers

If you thought it was tough picking out a Christmas tree every year, try being the guy selling it to you.

The people who work the Christmas tree yards put in 11-hour days from late November until Dec. 24, enduring brutally cold days and handling hundreds of heavy trees. But they say it’s worth it because they’re helping people.

“It makes me happy to give people joy,” said Bruce Rae, who operates the Christmas tree lot on Green Grove Drive. “It’s like you’re Santa Claus’s cousin or something.”

The sellers work every day during the season with most days clocking in at 11 hours. During their month-long marathon, they set up and maintain their yards, deal with heaters and chainsaws, unload the trees, unwrap them, lug them into the shack so they can thaw and spread out nicely, then lug them back outside and set them up in display stands.

“You’ve got to handle a tree probably an average of six times before it’s sold,” Rae said.

It’s straight commission work that can be rewarding but it’s up and down, he said.

“A lot of guys do it for $3,000. With a lot of years and a lot of professionalism you can do better than that,” he said.

This tree seller is based in a portable shack that measures 20 feet by eight. It contains a sales desk, a propane heater and empty space for warming up frozen trees. It’s not luxurious.

“Working in 32 below weather isn’t the most fun in the world, selling Christmas trees, I can tell you that for sure.” Rae said.

For a solid month he lives, breathes and even dreams Christmas trees. By the end, he’s had enough.

“Oh my God, I don’t want to see another Christmas tree for 11 months. I don’t want to see winter anymore either,” Rae said.

“You get pretty tired at the end but it’s not bad,” agreed Al Roulston, 70, the operator of the yard at Bellerose Drive and a veteran of 18 tree seasons.

“Time goes pretty fast,” he said. “It’s good exercise.”

There are three yards in St. Albert that are owned by Evergreen Christmas Trees. They sell seven types of trees.

The granddaddy of them all is the Fraser Fir, because of its fullness and refusal to drop needles. These cost $125 for a six-footer, so most people buy balsams for about $65.

When Roulston started, the trees weren’t tagged and he had no idea which was which.

“All I knew about it was a Christmas tree is green,” he laughed.

The main trait of a good tree vendor is to be a talker, said Rae, who said it takes three seasons to become a really proficient seller.

The company provides a product list and it only takes 10 minutes to learn the particulars, said Lloyd Hicks, 67, who operates the yard on Hebert Road.

Hicks first started selling trees in 1978. After a few years he moved into selling cars and spent a career at that. Now he’s retired and back selling trees.

“I’ve been selling for so long, for so many people, I really enjoy selling trees,” he said.

Reclining in his toasty shack, Hicks looks like an affable baseball manager, with a paunch under his jacket and a California Angels cap back on his head.

“I just enjoy families coming in,” he grinned. “They make it a special occasion. They’re always looking for the nicest tree. I enjoy helping them pick it out.”

That’s the common denominator for all three sellers: the joy of helping people find the exact right tree.

“Number two to Santa Claus is the Christmas tree guy,” Rae said. “That’s what they call me … the Christmas tree guy.”

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