In a world full of hustle and bustle, Sunset Christmas Tree Farm, located just 5 miles west of Mahomet has provided Central Illinois with a cozy, nostalgic holiday feel for more than 10 years.
With homemade sugar cookies, hot cocoa, Christmas music and a variety of pre-cut and fresh cut trees, owners Kevin Dyer and Justin Lamb enjoy watching customer’s faces light up when they come to the tree farm.
“Everyone who comes out here is always in a great mood because they are coming out as a family,” Lamb said. “They bring their kids and cameras. It’s a family tradition to cut down a Christmas tree.”
“The customers that we get and keep, even if they aren’t cutting down a tree, get that choose-and-cut farm atmosphere,” Dyer said. “People like the fact that they can take their kids out to a tree farm and get that full service.”
The eight-acre farm includes traditional long needle Christmas trees such as White Pines , Concolor Fir and Fraser Fir. There will be about 450 trees available this year.
Much of the cut-your-own tree stock has been wiped out due to the demand of trees over the last few years. While Lamb and Dyer are working hard to regrow the trees, they have stocked up on pre-cut trees to meet the demand for this season.
Due to customer inquiries, Dyer and Lamb added 4′ to 12′ pre-cut Fraser Fir trees from North Carolina a few years after they purchased the farm.
“They hold their needles longer than any other trees,” Dyer said.
When a customer chooses their tree, employees clean, shake and bale the tree while guests enjoy the cocoa and sugar cookies next to the warmth of a wood burning stove. They will also drill a hole in the tree if the customer has one of their tree stands.
After a long day of selling trees, Dyer and Lamb go home to bake cookies with their wives and children for the next day.
“A lot of people come for the cookies,” Lamb said.
“Sometimes we wonder if that’s the reason people come,” Dyer said. “It’s a big part. People talk about the cookies, so we’ll keep making them.”
All services, including tying the tree to the car, are included in the price of the tree.
Dyer and Lamb also make all the Christmas wreaths and swags at Sunset Christmas Tree Farm from Fraser Fir clippings.
While many box stores bundle their Christmas trees up, Dyer and Lamb display at least 50 pre-cut trees on their special stands at all times.
“They’ve all opened up so people really like that they don’t have to guess if a tree looks good,” Dyer said.
Both Dyer and Lamb enjoy staying busy towards the end of the year when their landscaping business, Sunset Landscaping and Trees slows down. The business partners love landscaping because it allows them to be creative, hands-on and outdoors.
“Landscaping has a quick turnover on projects,” Dyer said. “When a house is just built with just dirt, we can turn it into a brand new yard within a week. People are amazed with what we can do.”
Although Dyer and Lamb had a familiarity with trees and how to plant them, they had to learn how to take care of the Christmas trees when they bought the farm.
“It was a lot to figure out, but once we did, it was something we enjoyed doing,” Lamb said.
Sunset Christmas Tree Farm will be open Friday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from November 24 until they are sold out of trees.
