In the United States, the tradition of the Christmas tree only started to take roots in the late 1700’s to early 1800’s when German settlers brought the tradition over from Europe. Rumor has it that German Hessian soldiers, hired by the British during the American Revolution, were the first to display a Christmas tree. During the Christmas season they paid little attention to their military duties and more to celebrating and thus became easy prey for George Washington and his troops. You might say that the Christmas tree had a small influence in the colonies gaining their freedom.

The first Christmas tree farm was started in 1901 by W.V. McGalliard in New Jersey. In 1966 the National Christmas Tree Association began its yearly tradition of presenting a tree to the First Lady for display in the Blue Room of the White House. The Dees’ are a proud member of the National Christmas Tree Association.

The Dees’ Christmas Tree Farm in Maine started in the late 1960’s almost by accident. Mr. & Mrs. Dee, having 8 children, got tired of packing and unpacking the car every summer vacation so they sought out a small cabin in the woods. After searching upstate NY and New England they stumbled upon a camp and fell in love with a small spot on a lake in Down East Maine. Mr. Dee noticed many local farmers growing balsam fir Christmas trees and since he sold them at our store it was a natural for him to grow them as well. As the years progressed he honed his skills and now The Dees’ Tree Farm is 250 acres where we grow Balsam and Frasier fir Christmas Trees. We also harvest and produce our fresh greenery that we use to make our fresh wreaths and garland. You can watch us make these items live right here in our store in Oceanside, NY. All of our trees are proudly grown in the USA!

A major misunderstanding with people is that cutting down Christmas trees is depleting our forests. Nothing could be further from the truth. All Christmas trees are grown on farmland and harvested as a crop. New tree seedlings are planted every year to replace those that have been harvested. If anything, Christmas trees farms are preserving our forest land. The Dees’ tree farm is a forest conservation site in the state of Maine. We plant thousands of seedlings every year on our farm. On average there are 2000 trees per acre on our farm, all producing oxygen and taking carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants out of the air. Another major benefit of live Christmas trees is that they are a renewable, recyclable resource. They do not take up space in landfills.

Since 2003 our Trees have been sent to The United States Military in Afghanistan and Iraq. On Monday December 8th this year with the help of DHL, Citizens for Soldiers in Service as well as many members of our local community, schools, and places of worship we will be sending trees from our farm again. Throughout the year we receive letters and emails from soldiers thanking us for the Christmas Trees, decorations, presents and cards they receive. We are committed to continuing this Tree for Troops tradition until it is no longer necessary.

Come join us in early December as we have our Trees for the Troops send off celebration. All are welcome.

We wish you and your family a Merry Christmas. God Bless the United States Military and their families and God Bless America.