By Heather Matthews
Staff Writer

Fran LeLacheur, of Manchester, loves the holiday season. Every year she decorates her home with the ornaments she has created. At the center of her holiday decor are seven Christmas trees, six artifi cial and one real, each adorned with family heirlooms and keepsakes, reminding her of past holidays and family.

Ruth Ross, one of the original owners of Rossview Farm, uses pieces left over from pruning the trees the farm produces to create holiday wreathes for the farm’s small shop.

“I go a little crazy,” she said. “I love Christmas and (the trees) make me happy. I have a tree in every size. There’s an 8-foot one in the living room, a 7-foot and a 5-1/2-foot one in the dinning room, a 4-foot one and a table topper in the kitchen and table topper on the landing, plus the one I’m getting today.”

While not everyone is as enthusiastic about the traditional holiday evergreen as LeLacheur, according to the Department of Agriculture, more than 30 million people will celebrate the holidays this year with a Christmas tree.

When most people think about the Christmas tree, they associate it with the traditional holiday song, “O Tannenbaum,” and the birth of Jesus Christ, said Donald Ross, 32, of Concord, who owns and operates Rossview Farm. But the tradition predates these associations.

“The Christmas tree is older than Christianity and is not exclusive to one world religion,” he said.

Egyptians would cut palm branches and hang them in their homes on the shortest day of the year to symbolize life and the triumph over death. Romans used evergreen boughs to celebrate the feast of Saturn, or the rebirth of the sun on the winter solstice. To the Druids of ancient Gaul, sprigs of evergreens including holly and mistletoe symbolized eternal life.

The tradition of the Christmas tree as we know it today can be traced back to the 1500s and Germany, but it was not introduced to America until the Revolutionary War when Hessian mercenary soldiers brought the tradition to these shores. Charles Minnegrode introduced the custom of adding decorations to the tree in 1842 in Williamsburg, Va. Early trimmings included fruit, ribbons, colored papers, cranberries, polished nuts and strings of popcorn. The fi rst Christmas tree at the White House was brought by New Hampshire native and then-president Franklin Pierce.

Selling cut-your-own Christmas trees has tied Ross to those traditions, and has also allowed him to witness the creation of new ones as well.

Despite the availability and convenience of artifi cial trees, Ross said the demand for his fresh-cut trees has grown in the last fi ve years. Ross sells more than 400 trees a year and his farm draws more than 1,000 people between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“It may not be for the product itself, but for the family tradition – the event of picking it out together,” he said. “It’s not the symbol of the tree itself, but the symbolism of the family act. It’s a fun tradition. People come out and enjoy part of the country that’s not so far from downtown Concord or Manchester.

“This is not our most substantial crop, but it does have the most job security. In 200 years people won’t want to come and pick their own strawberries, they’ll go to some greenhouse somewhere, but I bet in 200 years people will still pick their own Christmas trees.”

Every year, LeLacheur and her entire family set out to fi nd and cut down the perfect Christmas tree together, then meet for a family dinner afterwards.

“It really is a great way to start the holidays,” said Kathy McElroy, of Manchester, LeLacheur’s sister. “We go for the smell (of the real trees) and the day. It’s a lot of work, but it’s just so festive.”

While Christmas tree tradition has been tied to religion, for many, including LeLacheur and her sister, the tree’s meaning is also more personal.

“Memories. It’s all memories,” said LeLacheur. “It’s a reminder of Christmases past.”

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