History

2020, The year of Covid!

I just had to write a record of this strange covid year. The 2020 tree season was certainly different than anything any of us expected. First of all were the arguments we had discussing options, such as can we open at all, how to we ensure the health measures, will our staff work, and how do we keep them safe, and on and on.

The new rules of no gatherings, social distancing, masks, extra sanitizing and so on meant a total change in our process. The shop had to be closed, as it is too small to allow for distancing. That meant no inside cash, no hot chocolate, no crafts for the children, no inside washroom, no place to display and sell out foods and crafts. Then the wagon rides. So many arguments about that. How do we limit the rides to family bubbles only. What about multiple families? How close can we have the seats? Finally we just cancelled the wagon rides, (except for clients with mobility issues). The wagons would carry the trees back to the barn. Which meant we needed a tagging system so people would find their tree at the barn.

We had to ensure masks and social distancing around the barn. We rearranged the tree stand and baler to provide more space.  Two portapotties. A station to sanitize the saws. Signs everywhere reminding people of the rules. And worried that we might get a visit by the authorities who could close us down.

How to manage payment. Everything had to be outside. We purchased a tent shelter to cover the table. Purchased a cash register rated for low temperature. Got a wireless interac machine. Set up shelves against the garage wall, to display various goods. What we discovered was that the outdoor cash really worked well. It avoided the lineups in the shop and made it much easier for our clients. 

The weather! The weather was so mild, which is great for cutting a tree, but not so great for parking lots and field roads. Not only was it mild, but it rained and rained during the weeks, which really softened the ground. We count on the ground being frozen, to support the parking lot as well as the tractors and wagons. Well, there was no frozen ground this year. By the second weekend we had mud up to our ankles. We had to close the main parking lot, which was a river of mud. Reminded me of Woodstock! People had to park on the road, which meant a bit of a walk, but at least it was mild. (apologies to the people who parked in the mud. Hopefully your car will get clean sometime next summer!) 

The main tree field was a short walk from the barn, so people were fine with that. We brought the trees back on the wagons. We only used the 2 small tractors, the old Ferguson and the Kubota, which are the lightest tractors. Thankfully the wagons were not heavy, as we did not carry people. However, by the end of day 2, there was too much mud for the Kubota, so down to one antique Ferguson tractor. Amazingly, we kept up with the transport for the most part. The roads were a rutted mess by the end. Lots of work next summer to repair all this!

But the biggest surprise was the number of people! Covid shut down just about every family activity there was, but not Christmas! The cut your own tree activity is always fun, but this year, the entire province decided to try it.  We had so many people, easily double what we would expect. And I think almost everyone was happy to be here, even with the reduced services and mud. The fields are clean, weather was nice, and we could see the children running and having a ball. Tree stands are mainly sold to clients who are getting their first real tree. We sold out of stands in a couple of days, indicating how many new customers we had. 

Unfortunately, we sold out of trees in 3 days. We know many of our repeat customers missed getting a tree from us this year, and we are so sorry for that. 2020 was our 25^th year, we have customers who have been coming here for more than 20 years, so it was a real disappointment to have to close early. Hopefully 2021 will calm down a bit so we can enjoy a normal season. 

But all in all, we believe our covid season was a success. Families were able to get outside and have some clean fun together, and hopefully their tree brought more joy through the season. It was a safe year, no accidents, and as far as we know, no one caught covid! We are so grateful to our hardworking crew: Emma, Julie, Peggy, Matt, Jon, Randy, Glenn, Steve, and our newest member, Griffin. There was no relaxing this year!

We’ll be back in 2021!

Richard and Dorothy