PITMAN – A Valley family farm is officially sending off a Christmas tree to be displayed at the White House this holiday season. Tuesday, White House Officials selected a Douglas-fir tree from Mahantongo Valley Farms in Pitman, Northumberland County, to display in the White House Blue Room. The tree becomes the 10th from Pennsylvania that will be displayed.
Larry Snyder is the owner of Mahantongo Valley Farms, and has been a Christmas tree grower for over 30 years, “I’m very honored to represent all the tree growers of America in providing this tree. It has extremely good shape and color.”
The farm received the opportunity for the honor after being chosen as the 2019 National Grand Champion Christmas Tree in August that was held in PA.
The chosen tree currently is about 16-years-old. It stands between 22 and 24 feet, but will be shortened to accommodate the Blue Room dimensions, which is 18 feet by six inches. White House Chief Usher Timothy Harleth and White House Superintendent Dale Haney chose the tree.
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Harleth says they were looking for the tree to be a good shape, and could be viewed in a 360-degree angle, “You want to ensure the tree doesn’t have any holes. You’re looking for tree that has a nice, straight trunk, so you’re not in the room leaning from one direction to the other, and then you’re just looking for a great color and a nice smell, and I think this tree checked off all those boxes.”
Harleth says the tree will arrive at the White House in November, which will then be displayed for more than 2 million people to see. Tim O’Connor, Executive Director of the National Christmas Tree Association was also in attendance.
He says the Mahantongo Valley’s good microclimate makes a huge difference to growing beautiful Christmas trees every year, “There’s something about this microclimate and this soil here that seems to work. You’ve got rolling hills….that’s typical of where we see Christmas trees grown. Most of the time, there’s good weather, and the soil conditions allow the grower to really manage the trees well.”
O’Connor also says Christmas tree growing is the single-biggest agricultural activity that exists. Snyder and his family will be heading to the White House when the tree is delivered and presented to First Lady Melania Trump.
