Late Christmas tree shoppers better hurry

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stacey Lauren-Kennedy

Heather Thompson and Trevor Hiss of Burnt Hills, carry their freshly cut Christmas tree from Ellm's Family Farm on Sunday.

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For Joe and Liza Carbonara, buying a Christmas tree on Sunday was actually a little early.

The Albany couple are Eastern Orthodox, meaning they celebrate the holiday on the date it appears on the Julian calendar. That happens to be Jan. 7 this year, meaning the Carbonaras are putting up their tree more than two weeks before Christmas.

“We’re early if you go by that calendar,” he said, after his family selected a nice Douglas fir from the Ellms Family Farm in Ballston.

Of course, most tree sellers follow the Gregorian calendar. And that means finding a tree three days before Christmas isn’t easy.

Most retailers have sold out by now. The cut trees that do remain tend to be misshapen or gigantic.

Nonetheless, there’s no shortage of people still hitting the streets in search of a last-minute tree for their home. At the Ellms farm, about a dozen people had drifted in to cut their own trees by noon Sunday — a last-minute push that always leaves owner Chip Ellms scratching his head.

“I’m amazed by the number of people that are coming at the last minute,” he said.

But it’s usually not the procrastinators buying last-minute trees. Ellms said the people showing up late usually have a child who came home from college or a family member returning from the military, and didn’t want to get a tree until everyone was home.

That was the case for Rachel Baumgartner of Ballston Spa. She just returned from the Rochester Institute of Technology and her family wanted to wait to put up the tree until she got home.

“It’s kind of nice because we’re all back together,” she said.

“It’s also nice to have something to do rather than standing around,” added Stefan Baumgartner, her younger brother.

Then there are others who simply like tradition. Ellms and several other area tree sellers say it’s quite common to get people looking to buy a tree on Christmas Eve.

Those purchasing a tree a couple days before Christmas can also avoid crowds. At the Ellms farm, where the staff was outnumbering customers, there was no problem finding parking or assistance with a tree once it was cut. At the height of the season, the place can be packed.

Both the Carbonaras and Baumgartners warned finding a tree late in December isn’t easy. Each year they set out to do so, they take with them a gnawing worry that they simply might not find one.

The cut trees sold in the parking lot at Curtis Lumber in Ballston were exhausted last week, as were the ones at Kulak’s Nursery in Rexford. The tree supply at True Value in Ballston Spa had been winnowed down to about a half-dozen motley specimens — all of which owner Mike Wallace anticipates selling before the holiday.

“They’ll be gone,” he said gesturing to the few remaining trees. “I’ll probably cut down some of the larger trees to the size people want.”

The last of the 1,500 cut trees at Kulak’s sold last week, owner John Kulak said. Yet he still has folks searching for trees at the last minute.

“I still have people every day asking for trees,” he said.

This year’s sales seemed to be stronger than normal and the number of people looking early on seemed to grow. Kulak said he saw a big push for trees right after Thanksgiving.

For Ellms Family Farm, the busiest day of the season was Dec. 7 but actually the whole season was very good. Ellms said he had one of his best years in recent memory, a trend he attributed to the improving economy and the nationally increasing number of people seeking real Christmas trees nationally.

“This was a jump over previous years and it looks like it goes with the national trend,” he said.

Ellms said his farm will close for the season tonight after the last Christmas tree is tied to the last car roof. He said the cut trees that remain unsold will be left out for birds and the planted ones will get another year of growth.

“They’ll be a foot taller next year,” he said.