EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Pasoans, who may be a little late in decking their house with Christmas decor and setting up their tree, still have a little bit of time to find not only the perfect tree, but a real one as well.
“We’ve been here about 30 years, selling Christmas trees here in the El Paso area. It’s been a family tradition. It started with my family, and now it’s only me and my wife. We’re the only lot here in town, so we love doing this. We love to sell trees to the El Paso community,” said Bruno Rodriguez, president and co-owner of El Paso Blessed Christmas Trees (EPBCT).
Rodriguez’s Christmas tree lot has operated out of the parking lot of the Albertsons located at George Dieter and Montwood Drive in East El Paso.
They sell real Noble and Douglas fir trees brought directly from the forests in Oregon.
They have 6-by-7 and 7-by-8-foot Douglas fir trees for $69.99 and $80, respectively.
The Noble trees are available in 7-by-8 and 8-by-9-foot measurements at $99 and $145, respectively.
EPBCT always sets up shop a week before Thanksgiving and Rodriguez said they have sold at a much faster pace than in previous years. He expects to be sold out by mid-week.
Rodriguez said people who are still in search of that perfect Christmas tree can expect fine quality if they visit their lot.
Every year around September, Rodriguez travels to Oregon to stock up for the holiday selling season, but he examines trees carefully so that he can purchase the finest quality.
“What I look at is the green, really the color of the tree, the shape. You can tell right away if it’s going to be a good tree or not. Because if it’s already green, once it starts raining in October, the trees get super green and they’re really healthy. And I look for any diseases the trees have. If it has a disease, I won’t purchase a tree,” Rodriguez said.
When people select and purchase a tree with EPBCT, they give it a fresh cut and will help load them up on people’s vehicles. They also sell accompanying stands with a base for water so that people can keep the trees fresh.
They can also snow flock the trees for people who want that winter feeling in their home.
For first-time buyers, Rodriguez advises them to set up the tree away from heater vents and to continuously fill up the water base so that the trees don’t rapidly dry out.
When the holiday season is over, people can recycle their Christmas tree by dropping them off at any Environmental Services Department’s Citizen Collection Stations (CCS) throughout the City of El Paso.
Rodriguez said they have many loyal customers who come year after year. But in the decades that they have been in business, he has noticed that fewer and fewer families keep up with the tradition of buying a real tree for Christmas.
“I think the new generation of families are going a different route. The older generation type of families are the ones that (still) come in. I think that the tradition is kind of going away a little bit. I think families are now doing other things, like traveling,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez believes the tradition of buying a real tree for Christmas is uniquely special from what he’s learned from his customers, and encourages younger families to try it out.
“I think that the tradition is coming together as a family and picking the tree. Going home, setting up the tree, decorating it and having dinner there and enjoying that moment together with the family, you can’t beat that. That’s the tradition that a lot of families are still doing,” Rodriguez said.
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