The American appetite for Canadian Christmas trees
Truckloads of trees are sent south every year -- and in 1981 photos came back
You might say this is an evergreen story — one that doesn't change from year to year.
Evergreens were a lucrative export from Lunenburg County, N.S., in December 1981, with 1 million trees slated to head south that year.
And they have continued to be. According to CBC News, the province was responsible for 11 per cent of the $78.8 million worth of Christmas trees exported from Canada in 2020.
Driver Ivan Hiltz, behind the wheel of a delivery truck back in 1981, described his American destinations in Florida, Missouri and Mississippi.
His were just four of an estimated 40 truckloads of 3,000 trees each that would be leaving a single tree farm lot.
"And they could have had orders for 60 more," said Michael Vaughan, reporting for The National.
Modern equipment
It was an economic boost for the region, said Vaughan.
"The pulp [and] log industry is in kind of a depressed state," said Christmas tree grower Dwight Sanders. "And when that goes down there's nothing else to do."
Investing in modern equipment had been important to the success of the Sanders tree farm.
The growers even got mail from customers who loved the trees so much they had to share photos.
Sifting through a pile of mail with pictures enclosed, Leitha Sanders could see first-hand the impact of her family's business.
"A Christmas tree ... means so much to people," she said.
