The White House selected a 20-foot-tall Fraser fir from Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm in Newland, North Carolina, to be displayed in the Blue Room this holiday season.
This marks the second consecutive year a North Carolina tree has been chosen and is the first time a tree from Cartner’s farm will decorate the White House.
Owner Sam Cartner sees this as an achievement for all western North Carolina tree farms, emphasizing the community rather than political significance.
Avery County, where Cartner’s farm is located, was among the hardest-hit areas during Hurricane Helene, which tragically claimed over 220 lives across six states.
Cartner hopes the chosen tree will serve as a symbol of resilience and community spirit, reflecting the strength shown during and after the hurricane. His farm sustained losses of 5,000-6,000 smaller Christmas trees due to landslides, though he expects a relatively normal harvest this year.
Many other local farms, however, lost larger, market-ready trees and continue to face accessibility issues due to storm damage. The North Carolina Department of Transportation is collaborating with these farms to repair infrastructure, though no timeline for full recovery has been provided.
North Carolina is the nation’s second-largest Christmas tree producer, annually harvesting over 3 million trees. Although some Fraser firs were lost in the hurricane, the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association’s executive director, Jennifer Greene, is optimistic that supply will be unaffected.
Tim O’Connor, another association director, noted that farmers have worked diligently to minimize the impact of the storm on this season’s tree availability.
The White House tree is chosen in a competition hosted by the National Christmas Tree Association, where growers bring their best trees to be judged on qualities like height (18-20 feet) and width (around 12 feet).
This year, Cartner’s farm won the Grand Champion title, granting it the honor of providing the official White House tree. Cartner plans to cut and send the tree to the White House on November 20, with proceeds from the event supporting hurricane survivors.
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The tree will arrive at the North Portico via horse-drawn carriage, where the First Lady will inspect it, continuing a tradition since 1966, and it will be placed in the Blue Room to be decorated with a holiday theme unveiled after Thanksgiving. The official presentation will occur in a ceremony at the White House on November 25.
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