For the past four years, Carlos and Vicki Santana have been visiting The Rocks Estate in Bethlehem to buy their Christmas tree on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
The Mansfield, Mass., couple heard from workplace colleagues about a potential shortage of Christmas trees this year, but they decided to stick to their schedule for their trip over the weekend to the 1,400-acre reservation.
This year, the couple had their 10-month-old daughter, Olivia, to share in the family tradition. Vicki Santana said she is following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Joseph Monahan, who grew up in the nearby Twin Mountain section of Carroll and used to get his tree at The Rocks, a forest reservation owned and managed by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
“It’s a great family tradition, and we want her to be a part of it,” said Santana, adding that visiting The Rocks to choose a tree “is a lot cooler” than buying a pre-cut tree at a big-box store.
Nigel Manley, director of North Country operations for the Forest Society, has been farming Christmas trees at The Rocks for 35 years. He’s certain 2021 will be a “banner year” for selling choose-and-cut as well as wholesale trees, but they’ll be a bit more expensive.