Christmas trees arrive for Chester Fire Dept. sale

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Just before 8 a.m. on Black Friday, the scanner crackled to life with a loud piercing tone. “Chester Fire, Administrative tone. The truck with the trees has arrived. All available personnel to the field to unload.” And with that, a Chester holiday season tradition and a major fundraiser for the Chester Fire Department was under way.

Within minutes of the tone, firefighters were crawling over a tractor-trailer full of Christmas trees, loosening the straps that held the 450 trees in place on their 120-mile trip south from Stannard, up north in Caledonia County, and tossing them down to others.

Fire Chief Matt Wilson said that last year, just before the season began, the tree farm closed down due to an owner’s health problems. The department had to scramble to find a replacement but the quality of the trees was not as high as its long-time vendor.

Then, this past summer the fire department learned that the farmer had recovered and was back in business. Wilson said the firefighters are thrilled to be able to offer the high quality trees for $30 each starting immediately.

Trees are on sale on Rt. 103 South in the field across from Marshall Road.