Families Find Their Perfect Tree at Boulder Lake

DULUTH - Choosing the perfect Christmas tree is no easy task. But on the busiest weekend of the year for Christmas tree sales, the Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center invited families from around The Northland into its' woods for the 15th annual Christmas Tree Cut."Well this is our first time coming out here to cut our own tree,” Mr. McLaughlin explained. “We got our sled, trekked down the trail, and went a little bit further than most other people - we hope - and found a nice tree. We brought a picnic lunch, we found our tree, and had a picnic right underneath the tree. They decided it was the right tree, and we cut it down.” How do you know when you find the right tree? Mrs. Ekberg, talking about her one-year-old son, said, "We looked at quite a few and we asked which one he wanted and he pointed. We're like, ‘Okay! That's the one.’" And, like a lot things during the holiday season, for many families, cutting a Christmas tree has become a tradition. “It's a family tradition,” said Mr. McLaughlin. “We get to come out and do that together, make a day of it. It's a great memory, and fun to be out in the woods.” Not only does the tree cut provide hundreds of families with Christmas trees, it also benefits our environment. "It's a win–win situation,” said John Geissler, the Program Director at Boulder Lake Environmental Center. “Some people get fresh Balsam trees, and then we free up some of the sunlight for our Red and White Pine that are growing up underneath these trees." In proper Christmas spirit, the tree cut serves as a great way to spend time together as a family. "I think it kind of gets toward the true meaning,” said Geissler. “These aren't perfect trees by any means, they're all pretty Charlie Brown–ish, but it's more the spending time with your family and getting out and enjoying nature with your friends and family." For families around Duluth, bringing home the perfect tree marks the true beginning of the holiday season. Ross Ekberg explained, “It very much symbolizes the start of the Christmas season because you get to bring your tree home, and it starts with rearranging all the furniture in your living room, putting up the tree, decorating it, and then at that point it really feels like Christmas in your house."