A family fir

by Sean McCarthy

For many families the Christmas season begins with the search for a Christmas tree, and finding that perfect tree can be an exciting and memorable experience. It is an experience that Mockingbird Hill Christmas Tree Farm has been providing for more than 40 years.

“There’s a perfect tree for everyone!” has been a long time motto at Mockingbird Hill, located at 147 Rhode Island Road in Lakeville. “We offer a variety of trees for a variety of people. Someone may want a large tree or a smaller tree, a full tree or a sparse tree. We shape all of our trees so that they’re symmetrical and well groomed,” says manager Sarah Macutkiewicz. At Mockingbird Hill, customers can walk amidst five-acres of fields to find their preferred tree or choose from the precut trees brought in from Nova Scotia. They have the option of cutting down their own tree with tools provided at the location, or they can have an employee do the cutting for them. The trees are then transported to the parking lot where they are affixed to their automobile for the ride home. Customers can enjoy free hot chocolate on the weekends during their visit! “What we sell here is a family

experience,” says owner Tom Simmons. “It’s something people want to do as a family. They enjoy finding and cutting their own tree, it’s something that their children are going to remember.” Mockingbird Hill’s Christmas tree fields are open Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They open on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26. “Families are coming back year after year,” Macutkiewicz says. “They’ve had a

personal experience and many of them have become friends with our family. They appreciate the service they’ve gotten.” Harvey and Mary Coles are part of one of those families. Twenty years ago the Raynham couple and their children began buying their trees from Mockingbird Hill. Today they share that experience with their grandchildren as well. “The kids look forward to finding our Christmas trees, they get excited about it,” Mary Coles says. “It’s a great experience when they’re young and Santa Claus is a big part of the picture.”

The perfect decorations

Once a tree has found its home, the fun of decorating it begins. “A lot of the joy of having a Christmas tree is making it your own,” Macutkiewicz says. “You can make your own decorations by stringing popcorn, dehydrated orange slices and/ or cranberries, you can make your own garland, or use things you’ve found in your yard such as pine cones. Many times children will make ornaments in school, and you can shop for ornaments just about anywhere.” “Decorating the tree is a good time, it’s a nice part of our family tradition,” Mary Coles says. “We have a lot of great Christmas memories thanks to our trees.” The majority of trees offered at Mockingbird Hill are Fraser Firs, the most popular style of Christmas tree. They also have a few potted Blue Spruces for those families that want to plant their tree after the holiday season. Mockingbird Hill also sells tree stands, a large number of poinsettias, and wreaths which are located in and around the greenhouse. Trees can grow as high as 12 feet or more, while they also offer “Charlie Brown trees'' that are much thinner and sparser than conventional trees. “People like cutting down their own tree because they know they’re getting something fresh,” Simmons says. “Mockingbird Hill is well-organized,”

Mary Coles says. “If we cut down one of the trees from their field they make sure that it is groomed nicely. We’ve never been disappointed.” Maintenance for Christmas trees is relatively simple – they must have a base that holds water. The lifespan of a tree is usually more than four weeks, though they can last up to six or eight weeks, depending on when they stop taking in water. “We put our tree up after Thanksgiving and we usually have it up until after New Year’s,” Mary Coles says. Mockingbird Hill is a third-generation family business. It was started by Leavitt and May Simmons when they first began planting trees at the Lakeville location in 1972. Because the average Christmas tree requires 7-to-15 years to grow, they didn’t begin selling them until eight years later. “Finding a Christmas tree is something people did as a child, something that they’re going to pass along to their children,” Tom Simmons says. “We try to give people a unique family experience. People keep coming back because they enjoyed the experience they’ve had.”