BUCKSPORT, Maine — Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, might be Black Friday or Plaid Friday in Bangor, but it is also "Maine Grown Christmas Tree Day."
Gov. Janet Mills announced the day to celebrate more than 100 family farms that contribute $18 million to the economy each year with their trees and wreaths.
The day also marks the unofficial start of the Christmas tree selling season, which is shorter this year than last due to a late Thanksgiving.
However, after 28 years of co-owning and operating Penobscot Evergreens with his wife Mary, Calvin Luther is prepared for the time crunch.
"We're used to it now," Luther said. "We know that we need to call in some friends and relatives on the busy days to help staff up."
Before noon, more than a dozen customers came and went from his farm.
One is the Averill family, an energetic group spanning three generations. Picking out and cutting down a Christmas tree at Luther’s farm is a special tradition because the farm used to be the Averill Family Farm.
Brent Averill’s father bought the property in retirement and owned it for over 20 years before the Luthers bought it.
"It’s fun to see this and show the children and grandchildren, because our son remembers visiting on occasion here," Averill said while his grandchildren loaded into the car for the ride home.
Penobscot Evergreens is one of more than 100 in the Maine Christmas Tree Association, a group of small farms that share and cultivate knowledge on the trade.
Matthew Quinn is the president-elect of the association and owner of Quinn's Tree Farm and said regardless of when Thanksgiving falls, people get their trees.
"It's really a bell curve in sales. So, Thanksgiving starts out, then we get really right up to the peak, which is the first weekend in December, maybe the second weekend in December," Quinn said. "The third and into Christmas week, that’s the people that are like, 'Holy cow, I need a tree.'"
Additionally, the added build-up gives more time for farmers who ship their products rather than sell retail.
"I personally like it. When it is early, it makes that wholesale and wreath-making side of the business difficult," Quinn said.