WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — It’s beginning to look and feel like the holidays but Hurricane Helene shook up tree farms across western North Carolina. This weekend marked the kickoff of tree sales for many in the Triad, and farmers are working hard to keep holiday traditions alive despite the challenges.
For families, picking out a tree is a beloved holiday tradition. However, for tree farmers in western North Carolina, this year is a chance to show their resilience.
"It’s been a rough three or four months for farmers, but they’re resilient," said Ron Rash, who co-owns Rash's Tree Patch. "These Christmas trees will get harvested, and it will be hopefully a wonderful Christmas."
Rash’s Tree Patch sources its trees from Ashe County, an area like many in western North Carolina where Hurricane Helene destroyed thousands of trees.
"If you’re in a river bottom or near a creek, you’re gonna see a ton of damage," said Carmen McGee, a volunteer at Rash’s Tree Patch. "So everything, especially when we relate to trees. You see tree farms where they’ve had trees that they lost acres and acres of trees, some of them just have half the trees that have been taken out."
Rash said each acre holds close to 3,000 trees. With roads washed out or badly damaged, even if a tree farm was spared, it’s still a challenge to get the trees down the mountain.
"Some of what they’re dealing with is trying to figure out how can we get those trees out of these fields and get them down the mountain to where we can even get them on a tractor and trailer and get them into distribution points," McGee said.
Despite the setbacks, Rash said prices haven’t changed from last year. He hopes families will choose real trees this year, not just for the holidays, but to support tree farmers still recovering from Helene.
Stay connected to local, national, and breaking news: Download the WFMY News 2 app.
►Text the word APP to 336-379-5775
MORE WAYS TO GET WFMY NEWS 2
Subscribe to our daily newsletter, Let’s Get 2 It!
Download the WFMY News 2 APP from your Apple or Google Play store.
ADD THE WFMY+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or search for WFMY.
Amazon Fire TV: Search for WFMY to find the free app to add to your account. You can also add the app directly to your Fire TV through your Amazon account.