THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 14, 1994 TAG: 9406140320
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HOLLY WESTER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940614 LENGTH: Medium
When Virginia Beach resident Marja-Leena LaVigne purchased her Christmas tree from Food Lion last November, she didn't think it would live long.
``It was one of those cheapos,'' she said.
{REST} Seven months later, LaVigne's cheap 6-footer is as perky as the day she strapped it onto her Jeep. With its spiky needles still in place, her living room's main attraction remains draped in white lights, pearls, Victorian dolls, shiny homemade bows and clear glass balls.
``It has become a piece of furniture,'' she said.
The tree's longevity is no accident, she says. LaVigne, who is from Finland, concocted a top-secret tree-preserving solution with vitamins and painkillers based on an ``old wife's tale from Finland,'' she said.
``I take the same medicines I used on the tree,'' LaVigne said.
At least one local tree expert is skeptical.
``The odds of it staying alive - it's certainly a long shot,'' said Bret E. V. Ehrenzeller, owner of Ehrenzeller Tree Farm Inc. in Suffolk.
Ehrenzeller said that some varieties of tree might have a better chance than others. He once kept a cut white pine alive from November through April.
Besides the vitamins, LaVigne gives the tree a weekly watering, plus a dose of classical music. Among the tree's favorite tunes, LaVigne said, are the Dream Melodies and Enya.
Swearing her longevity mixture is better than any commercial plant preservative, LaVigne plans to take it to a manufacturer. ``Maybe I'll become a millionaire,'' she said. ``That would be nice.''
Talk about an investment.
by CNB