To the editor:
I have sent in my fair share of thank you letters to the editor. I have been thankful for others’ kindness, goodness and helpfulness. This is not a thank you but a “How dare you!”
I had hoped that I would not have to send this letter again in 2013, but once again people are stealing Christmas trees from us and perhaps other growers and sellers.
My family grows and wholesales Christmas trees for a living. Veronica and Dan Hanauer Sr. started this business 47 years ago. There is much work that goes into growing a Christmas tree, starting with the smallest seedling that grows into the final product, a tree that can be up to 18 or more feet tall.
We purchase seedlings or transplants; they are not free. We create jobs for our employees, whom we pay as they do not work for free. We purchase or rent the land on which the trees are planted. We pay significant expenses for fuel, equipment, repairs and supplies to run our farms. This is our business, our livelihood. We pay taxes, buy food, clothes and save to send our children to college, just like everyone else.
I have heard and seen people urge others to cut a tree from “the woods.” That woods may be private property. Please check before you steal a tree from “the woods.”
We work year-round, not just during the month of December. Our spring season includes planting and fertilizing. Our summer season is busy while we shear the trees. Late fall is the time we harvest and ship our trees to our customers. Yes, most people actually PAY for their Christmas trees.
We recently opened a cut-your-own Christmas tree farm on Butternut Road. This is the first place we noticed three trees stolen.
This brings me to the point of this letter. To those of you who have stolen Christmas trees from our farms or retail lot, we hope that your Christmas celebration is complete with your stolen Christmas trees. Remember, the Christmas tree is a symbol of Jesus Christ and all that is honest and good. If you have children, we hope you know the message that you are sending to them by stealing instead of coming by your tree honestly. Happy birthday, Jesus. We are sure He is quite proud of you.
Julie Hanauer,
Shawano
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