Families of Pentagon and New York rescue personnel might find delight from branches of green on Christmas night.
Michigan Christmas tree farmers are donating 750 trees to Pentagon military rescue personnel and to surviving family members of New York firefighters, police and rescue personnel killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The trees will be delivered to Washington today and New York on Wednesday.
The project is being coordinated by the Michigan Farm Bureau, 7373 W. Saginaw Hwy. in Lansing, and Michigan Christmas Tree Association.
Tom Trechter, the president of the association and co-owner of Mathisen Tree Farms, LLC, in Greenville, said the idea came from the U.S. Capitol Holiday Tree.
The 74-foot white spruce was chosen from a Michigan forest as the holiday tree for Washington and is called the Tree of Hope.
He said the farm bureau contacted the Christmas Tree Association about the idea, and because Michigan is the third-largest Christmas tree producer in the nation, he knew the state could handle the project.
“Hopefully it brings them some comfort for the season,” he said.
Dennis Rudat, a spokesperson for the Michigan Farm Bureau, said the trees might be able to help reduce the stress some families are feeling.
“It lets them know we are thinking about them and we know that it is going to be a difficult time for them,” he said.
Sharon Reynolds, outreach program coordinator for the United Service Organizations of Metropolitan Washington, said 250 of the trees will head to the nation’s capital and 500 will go to New York.
“We have tried to make sure that it is going out to folks who were directly involved,” she said.
Reynolds said there are lists of people who plan on picking up a tree.
“The idea that the Michigan Farmers Bureau thought so much of them is surprising,” she said.
Dan Wahmhoff, co-owner of Wahmhoff Farms Nursery in mm,m, Gobles, and former president of the Michigan Christmas Tree Association, said he took the opportunity to get involved.
“Hopefully it will give them a more joyful Christmas and let them know we haven’t forgotten about them still three months later,” he said.
