It started over two decades ago as a project of a local community service club, and Gord Penner’s Christmas tree lot just off Thornhill Street in Morden has continued to be a holiday season tradition.
Penner first became involved in selling trees from the backyard of his home at 202 Seventh Street as an initiative of the Morden Kinsmen Club.
“When the club folded, I decided to continue on with it,” Penner said last week as the supply of trees for sale was starting to dwindle.
“It’s a thing for the community. People were not sure where else to get trees, so I decided to keep on with it,” he said. “We’ve been doing it ever since, and it’s been I think almost 23 years now that we’ve done it in our yard.”
What’s kept him going with it is that it seems to matter and be appreciated by people, but it is a quite a commitment to be available and accessible for sales seven days a week during the Christmas season.
“Sometimes, it gets a little nerve wracking, but when people come, it’s usually a lot of fun. It’s a bit of a family affair. The kids come out and help sell trees,” Penner noted.
“You meet so many people, and it’s just a lot of fun. Year after year, I’ve had people who come since we opened. They’ve been buying trees from us for 23 years, and every year they come back and buy a tree. They bring their families, and the kids come, so it makes it interesting.
“It’s a tradition for some people to come here,” he said, acknowledging there perhaps may even be second generations of families who are now coming to buy their Christmas trees from him.
“It’s a service for the community,” Penner said. “I had one comment once that Christmas isn’t here until the Penners put up their Christmas lights and put out the trees.”
Penner ordered 150 trees this year; that number has varied over the years. Last year he had 200 but didn’t sell out, while in other years 200 trees were sold by the start of December.
These days he orders in Fraser firs and sheared Balsams, usually getting the trees sometime around Remembrance Day.
“Some people, right after Halloween, they’re putting up trees,” he said.
“The number of trees has dwindled a bit over the years … but we’re going to keep up with it as long as we can,” Penner said.
Customer run the gamut from the measured purchasers to the grab-it-and-goers.
“We get some quick sales, especially when it’s cold … the first tree they see, they grab it and run. Other people, it could be really cold, they’ll still come in and browse, check out all the trees.”
In the end, Penner said it always feels worthwhile.
“It does. When the kids are running around and they want to pick this one or pick this one. It makes it really interesting, and it’s fun … it feels good.”
