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Growing the trees make Christmas By PAUL DELEAN Examiner Staff Reporter It came shortly after mid night clear early Christmas morning some years ago an unexpected visit Geoff Pedlinham an family were returning from midnight church service and there waiting at their home two kms north of Dalston was stranger The man wanted Christmas tree Pedlingham obliged The guys said he wasnt go ing to bother getting one that Christmas but he changed his mind at the last minute hap pened to have an extra one Pedlingham 39 has been selling Christmas trees for 20 years The am sale that day was memorable one but it isnt the tardiest that he can recall Two years ago he sold one of his leftover trees Jan to celebrants of the Ukrainian Christmas The bulk of his business however is transacted in the three weeks before Dec 25 which makes this busy time for Geoff Pedlingham recent interview at his home was interrupted every few minutes by another buyer in search of Christmas essen tial greenery Last year he sold 343 spruce and Scotch pine trees He ex pects to sell as many and perhps more this year Some are cut by him some are cut by the customers themselves but almost all are homegrown Its been 26 years since the first crop of trees were planted at Pedlinghams nursery and there are now an estimated 8000 specimens in various stages of growth on the 32acre property MAIN SOURCE The main source of income most of the year is the sale of ornamental nursery stock but round about October the Christmas market beckons Pedlingham who runs the business by himself cut down his 1977 offerings in one day during the last week in October The first buyer arrived Nov 24 The trees that havent yet been sold stand in snow covered rows near his driveway People want them freshcut and Id like to do that but theyve got to realize cant go out into the field with truck at this time of year Once the snow is down thats it Snow is good for the trees that are cut and they dont really start to lose their freshness until they go inside the house Pedlingham adds But for those who want the freshest of the fresh and are adventurous enough to trek into the field to get it Pedlingham accords the privilege of cutting their own PRICE IS SAM The price is the same for tree on the rack or in the field $5 havent seen any that are less than that can offer that price because havent got any overhead here Im not paying supplier or delivery Pedlingham was once wholesale supplier of Christmas trees for merchants as far away as Ohio but gave it up in 1965 Theres no money in that His buisness has grown every year in ite of the incursions of the arti icial Christmas tree Yes the artificial trees are certainly hurting us There are more of them and theyre get ting better Still know people who have bought them and come back to the old way again Per sonally Ive never seen an ar tificial tree that Ive liked They just dont look the same Among natural trees the trend in recent years has been toward spruce and size Pedlingham relates that three or four years ago almost the only tree selling was Scotch pine Now its getting to be about 5050 spruce and Scotch pine spruce may even take over soon He has purchased some spruce trees locally this year to supplement his total which would otherwise fall short of the demand Spruce has longer growing period than Scotch pine about 12 years or more as compared to an average of eight for the pine and changes in public Reynolds Waverley sawmill taste cant always be foreseen that far down the road WANT EM BIG In terms of size most buyers today want em big says Pedlingham For private homes Christmas tree six feet tail is not an unusual purchase Instituations and businesses are snapping up firs up to 12 feet high noticed four years ago after cut lot of small ones that people wanted bigger trees People want their moneys worth Theyd rather take it home and cut it down to size than end up with something that turns out to be too small His advice to those who have already put up their trees in doors is to pour mixture of sugar one tablespoon and water one container into the tree holder daily to help maintain the color and freshness The stump should be cut into to allow for better water circula tion For most people the only Christmas tree that matters will be the one in their home during the holiday season But Geoff Pedlingham given the nature of his business has to be somewhat more far sighted Come next year hell be plan ting three new trees for every one sold or cut but unsold by Dec 25 As he puts it cut tree isnt worth anything day after Christmas Geoff Pedlingham looks over his trees It began as hobby but its now business Wait til next year Eldon Reynolds scoops the snow from the planer at his snowbound sawmill Reynolds shut down his operation last week for the winter months The 49yearold Waverley resident will head out into the bush after hristmas to cut new supply of wood that will keep his mill in sawdust next spring Examiner Ihoto log from the bottom of Georgian Bay will soon feel the bite of Eldon Rcynolds saw The waterworn subject is wielded into position by the sawmill proprietor Reynolds added the sawmill to his beef cattle operation in Waverley nine years ago and it has supplanted the farming as his main source of income Examiner Photo wm By PAUL DELEAN Examiner Staff Reporter WAVERLEY When Eldon Reynolds bought portable sawmill nine years ago it was intended as hobby His wife didnt like the idea but she isnt complaining now Not only has the $1000 invest ment paid for itself many times over it now provides more an nual revenue for the Reynolds family than the beef cattle operation which used to be their primary source of income just bought if for hobby but its certainly more than that now run it almost full timc in the summer and it could be fullvtimc if wanted it to Reynolds notcs over coffee in his home at the top of Vic toria Hill The sawmill is set up on lot adjacent to the fami where his 35 head of cattle are fed and housed The machinery is under foot of snow Reynolds shut down the mill last week for the winter mon ths There are still the farming chores to do but Reynolds is enjoying bit of breather these days It wont last long Soon after Christmas chainsaw in hand hell head off into the woods as he has for 30 winters to cut down trees MILL T0 FEED For 21 years he did the job primarily for other people These last nine years however with mill of his own to feed Its all In the teeth Eldon Reynolds grasps the lever that controls the blade of the saw at his mill in Waverley The blade is powered by Itohorsepower motor The mill is closed down for the winter which means you put bit of grease on the saw to keep it from rusting and lay up the diesel but Reynolds expects to have his twoman operation functioning again next spring as it has for the past nine Examiner Photo Reynolds has been using most of the wood himself The 49yearold farmer had used mill saw only once before during the winter of 1957 when he opted to purchase the secondhand model offered for $1000 changing it to what wanted he relates The basic machinery car riage and saw is 38feet long and portable Reynolds would put wheels on it hitch it up to his truck and drive throughout the county to places like Mines ing liafontaine and Wyevalc to fill customer orders havent moved it in the last two years though could still move it to person who had logs to saw but Ive got more to do now and it keeps me going without moving it SPRING WINTER The sawmill is in operation from spring to winter Reynolds gets an occasional assist from son Dennis 21 but his only regularly hired partner is neighbor Louis Quinlan Quinlan spry 72 is as good as ltryearold says Reynolds It was hell of job to get help thought of him one day and he was quite tickled to be asked normal work day the saw will start humming at am Lots of nights itll be 10 ocock when get in Reynolds notes He sells processed lumber from logs that he has cut or bought himself but also fills good many orders for people who bring in their own logs We doa lot of custom work The sawdust is bought for barn bedding and the slabs left over after the logs have been trimmed are snaped up for crafts projects or firewood SOFTWUOI Tourists Oh yes we get quite few The question isnt what they buy its what wont they buy Reynolds deals primarily in soft wood cedar pine helock poplar His biggest sellers are twobysixinch cedar boards Hes trimmed lot of logs in relatively short time so many in fact that two years ago he had to buy new blade to replace the original saw Reynolds admits that he learned the hard way about sawing but its become habit and like his other habits cut ting trees and farming is now firmly ingrained in his lifestyle Its not always an easy way to live Reynolds has been cut with chain saw hopped on the head by falling limbs from trees hes felled even spent one night lost in the Minesing Swamp with three other lumbermen during the brutal snow storm of six years ago But he likes what he does To day his thoughts are turning to the forest where no two trees are the same In few months it will once again be the sawmill In the spring of the year you just get itchin to get back at it Reynolds smiles know your county Mary Fullerton of RR Mincsing correctly identified last weeks entry in the Know Your ounty contest as the cntcnnial Fountain in Stayncr Mrs Fullerton says the fountain was constructed in 1972 to commemorate Stayncrs centennial Mrs Fullerton wins Sunday roast from Bren nans Meat Market in Ilanic If you think you know the answer to this weeks quiz send it along with your name and address to Know Your County Box 370 Barrie AM 4T6 Examiner Photo