BY SUE ELLEN ROSS Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Trends in Christmas decorations come and go. First it was large colored lights hanging from the roof for an outdoor display. Then, those were replaced by chasing lights, and most recently, hanging icicle lights. This year, it may be something different.

But there is one decoration that never changes – the Christmas tree.

Granted, it may be artificial instead of real, flocked white instead of natural green. But the fact remains that this perpetual sign of Christmas is on everyone’s mind this time of year.

Although live tree sales may have declined in past years, there are still some businesses that offer the ‘real thing’.

In addition to a few area florists and the local grocery store chain, you can find a fresh tree in an old-fashioned outdoor lot located on Airline Hwy.

The Polar Bear Tree Company recently unloaded their huge Christmas inventory onto a large open field, about 100 feet from the highway. Five hundred Fraiser Fir, Balsam Fir and Spruce trees of all sizes have turned this open space into a seasonal wonderland.

“Business at this location has always been steady,” said lot manager Brian Volpentesta. “We usually sell everything by the second week of December.”

As an employee of Polar Bear Trees, which is located in Polar, Wisconsin, Volpentesta has traveled to LaPlace to sell his wares for the past 10 years. The company’s owner, Gene Gress, also operates tree lots in New Orleans and Waveland, MS.

Although Gress always sells his entire inventory each year, he has seen a decline in live tree sales overall. “There may be a variety of reasons for this,” he said. He attributed the change to such possibilities as smaller families with no children, houses or apartments that don’t allow renters to have live trees or the fact that not everyone spends Christmas at home.

Much planning is involved for the yearly trip to LaPlace from Wisconsin. Preparation starts at the beginning of November. The trees are cut and harvested, which takes about two weeks, according to Gress. They are then loaded onto a truck for the long trip south.

There is usually nothing left by Dec. 13, he added. Then, its back up North to tend to the tree farm, which also includes growing seedlings.

After 10 years of coming south to work this seasonal sale, Volpentesta has made quite a few friends.

This was evidenced by a visit from Jim Rosemond of Reserve, while workers were unloading and setting up trees on their first day in town. Although Rosemond wasn’t shopping on this particular day, he wanted to tell Volpentesta that he will deliver Thanksgiving dinner for him and his helper, Gary Holland. Since the two men have families in Wisconsin, and the lot is open for business on Thanksgiving Day, Rosemond has always taken it upon himself to share his dinner with the tree lot workers.

If you do decide to purchase a live Christmas tree, A few tips to take into account when purchasing a live tree are listed below:

Shake the tree to see if there is any dead greenery. If it is already bundled up with rope, ask the proprietor to open it. After all, if your being asked to pay $40 or more for a showcase item like this, shouldn’t you know what your getting?.

Although we all know better than to buy a tree that will not fit in our living room, many people still make that mistake. Trees always look larger when outdoors, with no couch or entertainment center nearby.

Take a measuring tape with you when you shop. The tree business may not intentionally mis-mark the height of a tree, but it happens. Also, you really do need to know the width.

If you like a certain tree, but it looks way too big, don’t assume you can act as a professional tree trimmer when you get home. You may be able to crop it to fit in the living room, but if you end up pruning too much, you may find yourself with a very different-looking tree than the one that caught your eye back in that outdoor lot.

Many tips on care abound – water frequently, keep pets away, etc. Add a few inexpensive items to your shopping list – a large plastic bag that’s placed under the tree skirt and used for disposal later; and a foot-controlled device that sits on the floor to turn lights on and off, and your all set.

Whatever your choice of tree and its decorations, there is one more purchase needed to make it all complete: a nativity set to place underneath. After all, isn’t that the real reason we are celebrating this holiday?

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