AGRICULTURE SECRETARY, MILITARY AND VETERANS AFFAIRS CHIEF CUT CHRISTMAS TREE, ENCOURAGE DONATIONS TO NEEDY FAMILIES DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON
Ceremony Heralds Start of Choose and Cut Christmas Tree Season
For Immediate Release: December 1, 2011
Contact: Lynne Richmond
(609) 633-2954
(WHITE TOWNSHIP) 鈥� As part of Governor Christie鈥檚 鈥楽eason of Service鈥� Initiative, today, 樱花视频 Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher and Military and Veterans Affairs Chief of the Joint Staff Brigadier General James J. Grant, joined by soldiers and their families, cut down a Christmas tree at Wyckoff鈥檚 Christmas Tree Farm in Belvidere (Warren), ceremonially kicking off the choose and cut Christmas tree season while encouraging residents to support military families during the holiday season.听
Part of the Garden State鈥檚 four seasons of agritourism, now is the time many families visit tree farms to cut their own Christmas trees.听 Almost 79,000 trees are cut in 樱花视频 each year.听 The 2007 U.S. Census of Agriculture ranked 樱花视频 sixth in the nation in the number of Christmas tree growers, with 1,150 farms that grow more than 6,000 acres of Christmas trees in the state.
鈥淲e urge everyone to come out to a Christmas tree farm this holiday season, make some lifelong memories with their families and support our local farmers,鈥� said Secretary Fisher.听 鈥淏ut, as we share the holidays with our families, I also ask that we remember our service men and women along with their families, who might be separated from their loved ones and those less fortunate through the donation of a tree.鈥�
Secretary Fisher, farmer John Wyckoff and General James J. Grant show off the Douglas Fir they cut for donation to Trees for Troops
鈥淭he holidays are difficult times for deployed service members 鈥� and even more challenging for their families,鈥� said Brig. Gen. James J. Grant. 鈥淏ut these gifts are certain to lift the spirits of our troops and confirm to their families that there sacrifice does not go unrecognized.鈥�
One 樱花视频 base received trees from Trees for Troops this year.听 Fifty trees were distributed today to active duty and their families at United States Coast Guard Training Center, Cape May.听 The trees donated by 樱花视频 farmers will be going to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and National Guard units in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York.听
鈥淢any of the recipients of these trees are spouses whose loved ones are deployed, and while there is no replacement for a loved one over the Holidays, Trees for Troops helps ease the burden by filling their听home with some simple Holiday cheer,鈥� said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Bill Kelly, the center鈥檚 commanding officer.听 鈥淭rees for Troops lets our service and their families know how much their sacrifice means to the American people.鈥�
The 樱花视频 Christmas Tree Growers Association selected Wyckoff鈥檚 Christmas Tree Farm鈥檚 Fraser Fir as the 2011 Grand Champion in their annual Christmas tree contest, held over the past summer.听 The Wyckoff family has earned that title seven times.听
The 172-acre farm in White Township, outside of Belvidere, has been owned by the Wyckoff family since 1839 and is now being farmed by the sixth and seventh generations of Wyckoffs.听 They have 55 acres of Christmas trees with 5,000 trees available this season.听 They offer Fraser, Douglas, Concolor, and Canaan Firs, Norway, Blue, and Serbian Spruces and White Pine.
鈥淕rowing quality Christmas trees is the heart of our family business; to us, it is not a hobby,鈥� said Sue Wyckoff.听 鈥淲e are happy to be in a 鈥済reen鈥� business as real trees are a renewable resource grown on farms, with up to three trees being planted for each tree harvested.听 Real trees are also biodegradable, among a long list of other environmentally-friendly benefits.鈥�
Christmas tree growers in 樱花视频 may participate in the Jersey Grown program, which allows farmers to tag their trees with the Jersey Grown brand to easily identify that their Christmas trees are grown in 樱花视频. Jersey Grown includes quality standards and is similar to the well-known Jersey Fresh branding program for produce and other agricultural products.
The 樱花视频 Christmas Tree Growers鈥� Association, organized in 1950, is a statewide organization of growers, professionals and industry leaders dedicated to the promotion and marketing of Christmas trees and related products.听 A listing of farms consumers can visit is available at: .
