THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511230251
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Thanksgiving signals the start of another holiday tradition from generations past: chopping down and decorating the family Christmas tree.
``We want people to come and experience a tradition,'' says Susan Reed, marketing director for The Homeplace Christmas Tree Farm in Isle of Wight County.
And that's exactly what they can do on this 21-acre Christmas tree farm, about six miles outside of Smithfield.
Reed works for PMA Properties Inc., the Chuckatuck-based land development company that earlier this year bought the property on which The Homeplace is located.
PMA specializes in developing residential communities in rural areas, such as Bridge Point Farm outside the Chuckatuck section of Suffolk. But Reed says the company plans to keep the Christmas tree farm operating.
The sound of Christmas carols will accompany tree-shoppers on the short hay ride to the fields, filled with seemingly endless rows of Christmas trees. Customers will be given a bow saw to cut down their choice of tree, and when they haul it to the end of the row, the tractor will return and carry them up to the sales shed. The trees will cost $4.25 a foot.
The Homeplace has been selling Christmas trees for the past five years, and the farm will sell about 1,000 of the 14,000 Scotch and white pines on the farm this year, says Mary Hite, who helps operate the farm with her husband, Frank.
The Homeplace also sells Fraser firs grown in the North Carolina mountains, Hite said, and they will be priced separately.
The Hites and their co-operators, James and Sandy Arnette, hope their hard work will pay off in December.
``But don't think this is just a Christmas operation,'' Hite said. The trees have to be fertilized, and they must be shaped and sheared every summer.
The Homeplace will be open from 10 a.m. to dusk every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 17.
To reach the farm from Smithfield, follow Route 10 west (the Smithfield Bypass) to U.S. 258, turn left. Turn right onto Four Square Road, follow it 2 1/2 miles and turn right onto Comet Road. Then go 1 1/2 miles and turn right onto White House Road. The Homeplace is a quarter mile on the right. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ALLISON WILLIAMS
Mary Hite and Susan Reed at The Homeplace Christmas Tree Farm. ``We
want people to come and experience a tradition,'' Reed says.
Graphic
Suffolk
Ehrenzeller Tree Farm Inc.
The Ehrenzeller family has opened two of their three Christmas
tree farms on Old Somerton Road and on Deer Path Road.
To reach the first, follow U.S. Route 13 South until you can make
a right turn on Turlington Road. Make an immediate left on Old
Somerton and follow the signs.
To get to the Deer Path Road farm, take U.S. Route 58 West until
you can turn right onto Kenyon Road. Go one mile. At the stop
sign, take a left onto Indian Trail and an immediate left onto Deer
Path Road. The entrance is two miles up the road.
Hours for both are from 9 a.m. to dark every day until Christmas
Eve.
Except for imported trees, all cost $24.84.
Pine Ridge Nursery Christmas Tree Farm
Follow U.S. Route 58 West to Lummis Road. Take a left, travel
1/4 mile. The farm will be on the left immediately after the
railroad tracks. The address is 214 Beechwood Drive.
The farm is open from 9 a.m. until dark. Trees are $4 a foot, but
those over 6 feet tall are $25.
Clay Hill Christmas Tree Farm Take U.S. 13 South until you
can turn left onto U.S. 32. Follow it for 4 miles, turn left onto
State Route 675 and follow the signs, about 1 mile, to the farm at
3100 Clay Hill Road.
The farm is open from 9 a.m. until dark daily until Christmas
Eve. Prices start at $25.
Isle of Wight County
Tomlin Hill Tree Farm
Tomlin's, at 19362 Tomlin Hill Road in Zuni, is open from 2 to 5
p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to dusk Saturday and Sunday
until Dec. 17. All trees are $10. For information, call 242-9641.
KEYWORDS: CHRISTMAS TREES by CNB