Published: November 28, 2009 11:40 pm      

Tree sale begins

ASHLAND — It most definitely was not beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Ashland Saturday, what with the bright sun and unseasonably warm temperatures.

That is, not until you got to the Ashland Tennis Center at 13th Street and Oakview Avenue, where the annual Big Brothers/Big Sisters Christmas tree sale kicked off this weekend.

A temporary forest of white pine, Scotch pine and Fraser fir trees is occupying the green space beside the parking lot and the all-volunteer sales staff was doing a brisk business.

Volunteers had sold 23 trees by 2:45 p.m., said volunteer Jackie Hayes, thumbing through a stack of invoices. “They’re selling like hotcakes,” she said with a satisfied smile.

Satisfied, that is, because she knows that the profit from every tree sold goes straight into the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, which matches adult mentors with children who need grown-up role models.

Hayes was working her shift with fellow volunteers Denise Hamm and Paulette Johnson. Her 14-year-old son Jacob also came along to help carry trees.

They all work at King’s Daughters Medical Center and have been volunteering for several years now. Most years the three women have worked the same shift and selling the trees has almost become one of their holiday traditions.

Picking a tree at the lot is a tradition for people in the area like Drew and Lisa Phillips of Worthington, who snagged an 8-foot Scotch pine for their living room.

“We come here every year,” Lisa Phillips said. “It’s hard to decide ... they have too many nice trees. I had to let him pick,” she said. The prices are good compared to commercial trees, she said.

On the other hand, Kelli and Greg Klaiber of Ironton are first-time buyers. They heard about the sale and decided to get their tree there instead of at the store.

“We always put a real tree up and we’re sticking with that tradition,” Kelli Klaiber said. “We decided to support the Big Brothers and Big Sisters.”