2008 PRESS RELEASES
Click here to e-mail this page to a friend.
November 5, 2008
JOE’S TREES AND MOUNTAIN VIEW FARM REPEAT AS VCTGA CHRISTMAS TREE AND WREATH WINNERS
Contact: Marion Horsley, 804.225.3820
When Christmas tree grower Sue Bostic arrives at the Governor’s Mansion on November 24 to present the official Christmas tree to First Lady Anne Holton, she ought to feel right at home. This will be the third time she has made this delivery. Joining her that day will be Sharon Rhoades who will return for her second visit to the Mansion to present wreaths to the First Lady.
As the 2008 Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association’s (VCTGA) Christmas tree Grand Champion, Bostic has the honor of supplying the tree that will be the centerpiece of the Executive Mansion’s festivities throughout the holidays. In addition, the title, which she also won in 2000 and 2006, gave her the opportunity to provide the Virginia submission in the National Christmas Tree Association’s competition where her Fraser entry placed second in the fir category.
The Mansion tree will be a Virginia Grown 12-foot Fraser fir from Joe’s Trees, the Craig County Christmas tree farm begun by Bostic’s father Joe Miller Sublett in 1955. Since 1993, Bostic has been in charge and she has expanded Joe’s Trees into a 100,000-tree farm with both a choose-and-cut operation and a wholesale business. In addition to Fraser firs, Joe’s Trees offers white pines, Canaan, Balsam and Concolor firs, Blue spruces and some cedars.
The farm also sells wreaths in its shop and sells both trees and wreaths by mail order. Wreaths from Joe’s Trees, designed by Sue Huffman, won the 2008 National Wreath Double Grand Championship in both decorated and undecorated categories. Find additional information about the farm, its location and offerings at www.joestrees.com.
Sue Bostic explained why buying local Virginia Grown Christmas trees is the right choice. "Virginia trees are fresher and last longer than trees shipped long distances from other states and Canada. When choosing your tree this holiday season ask if the tree is Virginia Grown. Local retail lots and Choose and Cut farms strive to provide the freshest tree possible. We take pride in what we do and we want everyone to enjoy a traditional Christmas starting with a real Virginia Grown Christmas Tree."
Sharon Rhoades of Mountain View Farm in Edinburg, Virginia was named Grand Champion for her wreaths which she describes as “quite simple, more traditional.” For the Mansion wreaths, Rhoades will use a combination of Turkish fir, Murray cypress, white pine, Scotch pine and arborvitae. Even though VCTGA named her Grand Champion in 2006, Rhoades says she is nonetheless very excited about winning this year. She added, “I appreciate very much that VCTGA provides workshops to teach how to make bows and wreaths.”
This holiday season is the first that Mountain View Farm will be open for sales to the public. Sharon and Steve Rhoades began the Shenandoah County enterprise in 2001 and have been nurturing trees and greenery ever since. In addition to both decorated and undecorated wreaths, the farm will sell Norway spruce, Canaan fir, Douglas fir, Scotch pine, Blue Ice and Shenandoah Emerald cypress Christmas trees. Information about the farm is available at www.virginiachristmastrees.org; click on the Tree Farm Directory.
To find fresh, local, Virginia Grown Christmas trees in your area, log onto www.virginiachristmastrees.org or explore the Virginia Grown Guide to Choose-and-Cut, Fresh-Cut and Live Christmas Trees.