SANDSTONE, MINN. - A tannenbaum from Minnesota's north woods has never stood in splendor in the White House or Vice President's Naval Observatory — until this year.
Vice President Kamala Harris' residence will display a Minnesota-grown Christmas tree
Happy Land Tree Farms near Sandstone appears to be the first time a Minnesota tree has been featured at either the White House or U.S. Naval Observatory for the holidays.
November 10, 2023 at 8:12PM
In a year in which two turkeys from Minnesota will travel to the nation's capital for formal pardoning on Thanksgiving, a 10-foot Fraser fir from Happy Land Tree Farms near Sandstone will travel, by temperature-controlled van, to the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C.
"It's a very beautiful color — silvery blue on the bottom," Myra Olson of Happy Land Tree Farms said. When the vice president calls, you generally listen. "The VP's Office requested a 10-foot-tree."
Under the buzzing saw of Tony Bacon, Happy Land's field and shipping manager, the anointed tree was felled Friday afternoon. It'll take 18 hours and 19 minutes to drive the 1,184 miles, according to Google Maps.
There'll be a party at Number One Observatory Circle, which housed its first full time, residential vice president when Minnesota-born Walter Mondale moved into the residence in the 1980s.
This foremost Minnesota-grown fir will ascend to a spot few Upper Midwest trees ever reach.
The national Christmas tree — which will deck the White House halls — has often been sourced from America's mountainous regions, whether plucked from the Appalachian or Rocky Mountain ranges. This year's grand champion, an 18.5-foot giant that'll provide cover for the First Cat, Willow, comes from western North Carolina.
The Olsons of Happy Land Tree Farms gained recognition after picking up reserve champion in August at the National Christmas Tree Association competition, which was held in nearby Cambridge, Minn.
"We've got upwards of 100 major growers [in the state]," said John Krueger, president of the Minnesota Christmas Tree Association and owner of Krueger's Christmas Tree Farm in Lake Elmo. "We're like-minded growers who are competitors, but we share tricks and tips openly. We all do better when we all do better."
Olson said Happy Land has learned how to ship trees long distances. They once sent a tree to Pennsylvania for competition.
"We actually built a Styrofoam box to put that tree in with dry ice because that was the summer," Olson said.
Minnesota's northeast corner boasts plentiful forestland. But, Minnesota isn't premier pine country. States to our immediate east, Wisconsin and Michigan, possess more coniferous country statistically.
Our nation's fascination with Christmas trees was fueled by historic spells of drought and dryness, something Minnesota growers have experienced over the past three years.
"The tree industry grew out of the '30s, '40s and '50s when people that had the Depression and the Dust Bowl, all that dryness in the weather extremes of the '30s, planted more trees in sandy areas and hilly areas," Krueger said. "We planted too many trees and started cutting them down and selling them. That [long-needled pines] was what was available."
Today, the top choice among customers is firs — Fraser and Balsam. But Krueger says he still plants a small percentage of long-needle pines on his farm.
You never know when a customer might call with a special request.
Olson said the holiday season started in earnest earlier this month, with employees preparing for the tree shoppers. But there are no Christmas tunes on the speakers yet.
"They tend to wait on that," Olson said. "The season is, you know — long."
The plant is the latest in a litany of southern Minnesota towns, from Madelia to Marshall to Worthington, to face allegations they illegally employed minors in meat-processing facilities.
