Oklahoma Christmas Tree Traditions

Every year the Goracke family travels from their North Oklahoma City home to the Martinbird Tree Farm in Tuttle to continue their annual tree hunting tradition for Christmas.

Saturday, December 6th 2008, 4:17 pm

By: News 9


By Christian Price, News9.com INsite Team

TUTTLE, Okla. -- In this day and age of instant gratification, some families still prefer the traditions of the past.

Every year the Goracke family travels from their North Oklahoma City home to the Martinbird Tree Farm in Tuttle to continue their annual tree hunting tradition for Christmas.

Finding the perfect tree and cutting it down is a event Janet Goracke has done with her kids since they were little.

"We made it a family tradition," Janet said. "It's something we can do together for the holidays and it's something we look forward to doing each year."

Janet's son Brandon prefers his family's tradition over to going to a store and buying something plastic and green.  He especially likes the physical aspects of tree picking.

"I think its fun to drive here and the people are really nice," Brandon said. "I like just going out and picking our tree and cutting it down."

Brandon's sister Marinna fell in love with the tradition the first time she experienced it. She hopes to one day work at the tree farm.

"Ever since I started coming here, I just always thought it was cool, the little tree shaker and everything," Marinna said. "I just kind of look up to the people who work here and wanted to do it."

Click here to find out which tree will be decked out in the Goracke's house this Christmas.

Bob Martin is the owner of Martinbird Tree Farm. His family hasbeen growing and selling Christmas trees for over 21 years. To him, the job is still as fun as the first day he started.

"It never gets old with the kids," Martin said. "We've seen kids grow up. We know their names and we know the family. Probably 60 percent of our business comes from previous customers. We're getting third generation customers now. Kids who were little now have children of their own and they come back and it's just a great experience for them."

Once you find your perfect tree, you can mark your name on the tags attached to each tree. When you come back to the tree, the Christmas tractor and wagon will drive you to its location as everyone sings carols. After you've gathered your tree, the wagon takes you back to the office where free hot chocolate and coffee is waiting.

For the scrooges out there, the Martinbird Tree farm has plenty of elves on hand to retrieve your tree for you.

For more information on the Martinbird Tree Farm, call 405-381-2910.

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