Wasn’t it just Halloween?

9:00am we started the for the arrival for 400 Christmas trees arriving the day after Thanksgiving.

I swear time is really zooming by now. I just was finishing some of my Halloween activities with visiting the Blaze a week ago and now we just set up the stands for the Christmas trees that will be arriving next week, the day after Thanksgiving.

Arriving at the site with the new shed.

We all got to the site early to see our new trailer that will be replacing the Christmas shed that seriously got a lot of use over the last decade. It was time to replace it and this was a really good idea. It is better for storage, energy use and just looks better.

Getting the stands set up for the next week delivery.

It took all of us about three hours to clean the site, set up the stands, do the logistics for the site and get things ready for next Friday’s Christmas tree drop off. It is always a hectic day and a lot of work. Some of us have been doing this for years so it goes by fast. I just hold things and try to stay out of the way. There are drills and hammers all over the place.

We had the move the stands around several times to get them right.

This is where teamwork really comes into play. It was a lot of coordination and things got done smoothly. We are all ready to go.

Working on the shed set up and finishing the Christmas tree stands.

The finished site awaiting the trees.

Putting the last touches on the site before Thanksgiving 2023.

Now we wait for the trees to arrive and the sales to begin. Santa’s helpers are not this efficient.

We will be selling trees starting November 24th, 2023 until they sell out (which we are taking bets will be in less than two weeks). The best thing to do is get there early.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My commercial from a few years ago:

I think I am a great salesman. We are getting more people from Manhattan every year. We also are getting Hoboken, Brooklyn and from all the surrounding towns.

Christmas Tree Drop Off on November 24th, 2023:

We gathered again with several high school volunteers for the Christmas tree drop off on Saturday November 24th, 2023. The truck delivering the trees of course arrived at 7:15am in the morning when he should have been there at 8:00am. I had just gotten out of the shower when I received the text so I got dressed as quickly as possible, ate a quick breakfast and off I went to the Christmas Tree stand site. Four hundred trees were waiting for us on the truck.

Four Hundred Christmas trees needed to be unloaded that morning.

Getting the game plan together that morning.

Getting to work that morning.

Our President Steve Palladino leading the troops that morning.

The unloading of the trees.

We unloaded the trees in forty-five minutes another record for us. We had the help of a half dozen high school volunteers from Hasbrouck Heights High School and we appreciated them very much. They really helped get the trees to the piles.

Unloading the Christmas trees that morning.

Kyle leading the unloading in 2023.

Moving the trees in record time.

Finished unloading the truck in forty-five minutes. New record!

We had a new sales record. We had our first customer buy a tree at 9:30am in the morning. People want to get a head start in decorating and get the best selection of trees by buying the first weekend.

The first Christmas tree sale was at 9:30am, a new record!

President Steve Palladino of the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association helping sell the first few trees that morning.

The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association 2023 Christmas Tree group shot. Let the sales begin.

We gathered for a group shot at 10:00am. All the trees were unloaded, tagged and ready to be sold. Another record for us. This was the quickest year for getting the job done.

The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association Christmas Tree sale has begun on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Terrace Avenue November 24th, 2023.

The Christmas tree site on December 8th, 2023. 75 more trees to go!

The new shed makes things so easy!

Only 75 more trees to go!

*Note: When the blogger left at 3:00pm that afternoon after a seven hour shift, we had already sold 27 trees and five stands.

On December 10th, on a gloomy morning and afternoon, I worked the morning shift with the two Stephens and we only had nine trees left at the opening shift. We had to work the 9:00am-1:00pm shift and were not sure if we would sell out before the end of the shift. We had a major storm coming up the coast and the Midwest had gotten hit hard by it.

The last shift of the season was on December 10th, 2023 from 9:00am-1:00pm.

It was funny though as it was warm for most of the morning and the sun kept peeking out of the clouds. We had shoppers who had tried to come to the site during the week but could not make it. For the most part the weather cooperated and was pleasant until about 11:45am and then it was a light rain. We had already sold seven trees at that point.

Us with two trees left at 12:45pm.

The last tree sold at 1:00pm as our shift ended. One tree was being donated and then we were done. The Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association Christmas Tree sales officially ended at 1:00pm on December 10th, 2023. 400 trees sold in two weeks and three days. Great Season!

We are now done!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

On a warm January 27th, 2024 right after my return from Abu Dhabi, we met on a 50 degree day and took the stands down and cleaned the site. Thirty-five members got together and got the job done. It was another great season and we will see everyone in another ten months.

The Christmas tree clean up start. It is amazing that they say get here by 9:00am and it is half done.

Cleaning up the lot.

Almost done!

The last leaf blowing of the lot.

Done by 11:00am! We will see everyone again on November 22nd, 2024.