Archive: Around Town

In 2004 Richard and Kay Moore sent a Christmas tree from their tree farm to their son's college roommate, Nick Graham, who was serving in the U.S. Air Force in Quatar, flying over Iraq.  Graham had worked on Moore Tree Farm before enlisting, and had emailed to request a tree.  Since then the Moores have sent trees to actively serving troops each year.  Last year the number had grown to four trees.  Last Sunday thanks to a combination of their own donations and those of four local groups the Moores boxed 22 trees to send to men and women serving in Afghanistan.

"Hopefully it rekindles a lot of memories of their youth," Richard says.  "It's something nature produced.  It's authentic.  There is no other tree that is like this in the world."

12 of the 22 trees are being donated by the Moore's three children.  Ed Pasto was serving in the Army a few years ago when he received a tree from the Moores.  Attending their Jason Moore's wedding last August, he told the Moores how much getting that tree meant to him and his fellow soldiers.  The Moore children were so touched by his story that they determined to donate as many trees as they could.  The two daughters raised money in Boston to pay for trees, pledging to send them to children of members of a support group for parents with children who are serving in Afghanistan.


The rest are being donated by four groups, as well as the Moores.  The number of trees snowballed this year because as people learned what the Moores had been doing, they wanted to send trees, too.  Representatives from Ellis Hollow Boy Scout Troop 55, Saint Catherine's of Sienna Catholic Church, Lansing United Methodist Church's KAN (Kids in Action Now, from grades 3 to 6), and  All Saints Catholic Church Youth Group came to Moore's Tree Farm to cut down a tree and help box the trees that they have donated. 

Members of the Ithaca Y aquasize class, which Kay participates in, also raised money to donate trees.  Y employee Deb Taylor organized the effort, and fivethe trees are going to her son-in-law Steve Bruster's unit.  Bruster is stationed in Sharana, Afghanistan.  His wife Nicole was at the farm Sunday along with their three small children, to pack the boxes with tree decorations made from his kids' hand prints, books, tooth brushes, food, socks, batteries and other itemsfrom a list of things he requested.


"It's a great honor to be here and to see everything that everyone is doing for the soldiers over there," Nicole says.  "I think it's wonderful.  It's going to make a huge difference for the guys who can't come home for Christmas."

Richard pre-tagged four trees ahead of time that could be baled to a small enough size to fit into boxes to be mailed to Afghanistan.  While most of the trees were pre-cut, representatives from each of the four donating groups could cut one tree by hand that is now on its way to Afghanistan.


The Moores also donate trees to the 'Trees for Troops' initiative, which is expected to collect and deliver more than 15,000 Real Christmas Trees from across the nation to military families across the United States, as well as to soldiers serving overseas.  In the first year of the initiative they donated 30 trees.

The farm has been open for people to cut their own Christmas trees since 1987.  Richard estimates that they sell over 2,000 Christmas trees per season.

This is Richard's first year as President of the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA).  That means that he and Kay will go to the White House on the day after Thanksgiving as part of a delegation that will present the tree that will be displayed in the Blue Room.  The 18 to 20 foot Douglas Fir comes from a tree farm in Pennsylvania, owned by the winner of the National Christmas Tree Contest.  NCTA has provided a tree for the White House each year since first was presented to President Lyndon Johnson in 1966.

Now an Air Force Captain, Nick Graham is serving in Afghanistan, and he will be recieving a tree again this year.  One of the All Saints trees is going to Eric Tee.

"It's unique," Richard says.  "Just the aroma of a fresh tree -- as we were packing these trees the other day I came in and said, 'Wow, it smells like Christmas!'  I think back to when I was five years old with the tree we had in the living room."

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