MERIDIAN, Texas — Thanksgiving is in the rear view mirror and the countdown to Christmas begins.
It's that time of the year to find the perfect Christmas tree for your living room.
"There are families that have this as a tradition," Kathy Radde, co-owner of Radde Tannenbaum Farm, said. "We have been in business since 1991 and some have been coming for ten or more years in a row and its part of their Christmas tradition."
Coming to Radde Tannenbaum Farm is a unique experience. Customers get to enjoy a hayride, visits with Santa, warm cider, ornament shopping and the best of all ... you get to cut down your own Christmas tree.
But, not this year.
"Then the next year the drought came and so this year they just haven't had a chance to grow or thrive," Kathy said.
An Afghan pine takes around five to six years to fully grow. The recent ice storm and the constant drought has affected farm land all over Central Texas, leaving customers still searching for the perfect Christmas tree.
"So far we've not had too many complaints. Now at the end of the season we'll see how many we sell compared to that," Kenneth Radde, co-owner of Radde Tannenbaum Farm, said. "But, dissapointment, for sure. Small children remembering the experience of going out and cutting a tree, that's something that we're going to be missing."
After Kathy and Kenneth made the difficult decision to shut down the cutting field for the season, it felt like a major part of the Christmas experience had been taken away.
"Oh my goodness. It was a hard decision to make to say that we just don't have trees that will be pleasing to people," Kathy said. "We just knew it is better to lay out a year with cutting and give the trees a chance to be beautiful again."
One Waco family had been waiting for the day their kids could cut down their own tree.
"We wanted to have our kids choose their Christmas tree and cut it themselves, and it didn't happen," Jesus Martinez, customer at the Radde Tannenbaum Farm, said. "But, we still got a Christmas tree for them here."
The perfect Fraser Fir that was shipped all the way from North Carolina will do the trick as the Radde's work to keep their customers happy.
"We've stayed with it because it's a fun business to be in," Kenneth said. "Plus, you rarely see an unhappy customer at Christmas time."
There may be no cutting this year, but there were a whole bunch of smiles and holiday spirit.
With only around 250 Fraser Firs available, once they are gone the farm will be closed for tree sales for the season. So hurry up and find your perfect tree while there are still many to choose from!
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