By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Asking people if they use a real or fake Christmas tree is like asking someone if they want paper or plastic bags at the grocery store. If you think about it, they are both the same: paper bag – real tree, plastic bag – plastic tree.
So which do you prefer? When it comes to the battle of real or artificial, it seems the two are tied just about neck and neck.
Some prefer the smell, look and overall feel of having a real evergreen in their home for the holidays. Others like the convenience of pulling an artificial Christmas tree out of the closet and not having to vacuum up all those loose needles.
For Cindi Benson and her family, it has been and always will be a real Christmas tree.
"There's nothing better than taking your family out on a Saturday afternoon and picking out your own Christmas tree. We've done it since before my husband and I had children, continued as the kids got older and now, with our oldest a senior in high school, we still go out. It's become a tradition and it really puts us in the holiday spirit," Benson, a Berrien Springs resident, said.
John Williams, manager at Shelton's Farm Market in Niles, said many people still choose to have real trees in their homes.
"This year the quality of our trees is excellent. All of them are cut fresh and are shipped to us within one or two days of being cut," he said.
Williams added that one thing that bothers people about buying pre-cut trees is the fact that they are unsure about the freshness; however, he assures tree buyers that their trees are as fresh as they come.
"They are all shipped to us from local tree growers out of Berrien Center. We have a wide variety of trees, including Blue Spruce, Black Hills, Fraser Fir, White Pines and more," he said.
"The Blue Spruce is our favorite. That's the one we try to get every year," Benson said.
The prices for a real tree at Shelton's are very reasonable, ranging from $10.99 to $79, depending on the size of tree you pick.
Williams said business at Shelton's has been decent, but he feels the weather has been a factor the past two weeks. The market has been selling Christmas trees for 60 years.
"The weekends are our busiest times, but the last few weeks it's been rainy or snowy and that has kind of slowed things down a bit," he said.
At Big Lots in Niles, things in the artificial tree isle have been everything but slow as assistant manager Brandon Steffey said trees have been flying off the shelves.
And it seems customers are looking for more than just a tradition green-colored tree.
"We got some 6-foot pink trees in this year and they flew off the shelves. Why someone would want a pink tree is beyond me, but they were very popular," he said.
Employee Gloria Hatten-Jones said she thinks the popularity of the pink tree came from breast cancer awareness.
"Other than the pink trees, we have some high-end trees in this year that have been selling very good. We usually do not get those in, but we did this year. People like them because they look more like real trees, just without the hassle," Steffey said.
When asked if he thinks the real or fake trees are more popular, he said he feels the fake trees definitely are.
"All you have to do is throw them in the closet when you're finished and you have a tree year after year. It just seems easier for people," he said.
Easier it may be, but for Benson, she said in a way it shows a little bit of laziness.
"I can understand the concept of not wanting to spend $50 plus dollars on a real tree every year, but in my opinion, it takes away some of the meaning of Christmas," she said.
Thomas McBeanon of Edwardsburg used to work at a Christmas Tree farm for a part-time job in the winters. He said for a lot of people, it wasn't about which tree is better, but which one was better for the earth.
"We used to have people come up to us and ask if a real tree was better for the earth than a fake one. Obviously the real tree is better because it can be recycled. Fake trees cannot be. That answer was a deciding factor for most people in purchasing their trees," he said.
McBeanon said he grew up with real trees, but his mother decided one year it was time to try a fake one.
"I don't even know why she wanted to switch. Maybe because she was tired of watering the tree, I really don't know. But she had the fake tree for one year and has never put it back up again," he said.
"Fake trees were the trend for a while, but I think real trees are making a come back," Williams said.
So, real or fake? Green or pink? Everyone has their own desires and it seems the debate over real or fake is something that will be around for several Christmases to come.