Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

IT'S GETTING FESTIVE

Classic Kamloops Christmas activity kicks off as Woodward’s Christmas Tree farm opens for the season

Nov 22, 2021 | 3:35 PM

KAMLOOPS — For the past 30 years, the Woodward Christmas Tree Farm has been the best location for families to kick off the Christmas season.

“You load up the family and bundle up. Head out on the hay wagon ride and go search for that perfect tree,” Woodward Farm and Privato Winery Operations Manager Adam Woodward explains. “It’s really a hunt. You select the tree and do the hard work of cutting it down and pulling it in. Really, the benefit is the memories you make with your family out here.”

The farm offers three species of trees for the discerning Christmas tree aficionado – Scott’s Pine, Douglas Fir and Blue Spruce.

“This year, we have primarily a lot of Douglas Fir,” Woodward says. “They’re kind of hidden throughout the property so it makes for a good hunt for everybody.”

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As far as that hunt goes, each family is on the lookout for something different. Jessica, Sienna, and Ethan can attest to that.

“We stood by one and then went and looked at a couple more,” Jessica, one successful tree hunting mom, says. “We ended up coming back to this one.”

“We’ve never had a big, super full tree,” Sienna, who helped her mom and dad pick the tree, says. “We’ve always had tall and skinny trees,” Jessica, says. “We wanted one we could put all our decorations on.”

On weekends, the farm is a great spot for the whole family. If you’re lucky, you might see the Big Man in Red himself, checking that list. The Aurora Rotary Club is there, cooking up burgers and ‘dogs on Saturdays and Sundays, which you can enjoy around one of the fire pits.

“The snow, for sure, adds to the experience,” Jessica says. “It just starts making it feel more like Christmas. We can decorate at home and start getting everything ready. It just feels really Christmas-y.”

For Woodward, who’s grown up on the farm and seen many different tree types, the perfect Christmas tree is whichever one that you choose to put up.

“You know, it’s whatever you really want and it’s whatever you make out of the tree,” he says. “People sometimes go out and they want that ‘Charlie Brown tree’. We do have those here, too.”