Boy Scout Troop 235 has been selling Christmas trees out of its Tustin lot on 17th Street and Newport Boulevard for more than 40 years.
This year feels different though, tree lot manager Chris TeSelle said. But it isn’t why you might think.
What’s different is the customers’ extra good mood.
“People have been cooped up so long they just want to get outside, buy a tree and have a change of pace,” TeSelle said.
Shoppers said they were anticipating trees to go the way of toilet paper and Lysol, and were just happy to be able to make sure they had one and to get the holiday merriment started.
The pandemic did force the operation to scale back to 1,000 trees from 1,750 last year so there was more room at the tree lot for people to social distance.
While shopping Saturday, Nov. 28, Shelly Pickell told the diminutive salesman, Noah Fordham: “We’re a Noble family. Looking for 8-feet max.”
Fordham, 11, who was on his second day as a Christmas-tree vendor, showed Pickell the offerings, applying the training he received: Be interactive, patient and polite, even if customers aren’t.
“I love when you wake up and see the Christmas lights and it’s not all dark,” the young Boy Scout mused while ushering Pickell and her five family members, including a baby and a toddler, to the right section of trees. After dismissing several that seemed “too skinny,” Pickell settled on a 7-foot Noble Fir.
“These trees are from Oregon. They’re really fresh,” Fordham said.
As the sun beat down, Pickell said she noticed people were decorating their homes earlier this year and she feared trees might run out.
On Saturday, the second day of selling, business was brisk. TeSelle predicted next weekend will be the “telltale sign” on how sales will go this season.
“It’s nice to see activity,” he said of the troop’s only fundraising event of the year. Earnings will fund their camps and activities.
Jason Labahn, one of six lot managers, said his team came up with new protocols to help make shopping safe. They are using the Waitwhile app that allows customers to be alerted while waiting in their cars so no more than four people have to stand in line. They do temperature checks, require everyone to wear a mask and don’t accept cash, instead using a non-touch credit card system.
As volunteers tied Jason and Melissa Griffith’s 7-foot Noble Fir to the roof of their Jeep, Melissa said she couldn’t wait to get back to her Tustin home with her family, including Crimson, 6, and Scarlett, 9. Scarlett was holding her early Christmas gift: Cupcake, an 8-week-old Yorkie.
“We’re going to throw some music on and decorate the house,” Melissa Griffith said. In the era of COVID-19, “we’re trying to keep things as normal as possible.”
Later in the day, Madison Camacho was selecting a tree with her 4-year-old daughter, Mallory, and friend Cesar Venegas, who was buying a tree for the family as a Christmas present.
Camacho agreed there has been a change of mood this year.
“We’re looking at holidays with more joy than before. We’re just grateful even though we’re in a very different time,” she said. “This year taught everyone that family comes first.”
Hours of operation are: 3:30 p.m.-9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. weekends.
