Kaitlin's family has been growing and selling Christmas trees for more than 40 years. She loves the Christmas season and the family experience of cutting down your own tree.
Video Transcript
Meet Kaitlin: Christmas-farm Worker
Galien, Michigan
Kaitlin Goodenough: The perfect Christmas tree really depends on your preferences. It varies from family to family. Typically the families will come in looking for a certain height because that's what fits in their house, but it varies. Some people like fat trees, some people like skinny trees.
Kaitlin’s family has been selling Christmas trees for over 40 years.
I've been helping out around the farm probably for about 10 years, so since I was like 11 or 12. It's been a long time. Well, my main role is to run the cash register and personalize ornaments, and I’m kind of an assistant manager to my parents who manage the business. I really enjoy being in the family business. It's fun working with my family. It's always fun seeing the kids come out and so excited to go cut down their Christmas tree. We have customers that have been coming here since the day we opened. It's their family tradition.
Customer 1: We look forward to it every year.
Customer 2: We have a real good time.
Customer 3: We make sure we still bring our parents with us.
Customer 4: Yeah they have to help with the trees.
Customer 2: I don't drag the trees no more, they do.
(Cutting down tree)
Kaitlin: I'm not a fan of the plastic tree. Real trees are fresh and nice, and they smell good. And you can't go chop down a plastic tree so it kind of takes away from the family experience, in my opinion.
(Tree baler running)
Christmas is my favorite holiday, not just because I live on a Christmas tree farm, but it's just always been my favorite time of year because I love giving presents to my family and friends. That's my favorite part of it. Seeing the look on their face when they open it up.
(Hanging ornaments on tree)
To me, it represents family and the time that I get to spend with them. We get to decorate it together and everything. So seeing it up is just, it's really special.
