Christmas tree tradition important to businessman

Russ Whited of Russ Whited Fresh Christmas Trees measures a tree at his warehouse with assistance from Wilmer Hernandez.

Russ Whited enjoys working for holiday shoppers.

The owner of Russ Whited Fresh Christmas Trees in Fort Myers has been in business for 37 years and only one thing keeps him going year after year.

"Most people are jolly at Christmas time," said Whited, 78, while watching the first shipment of trees unloaded off a refrigerated truck. "We got in this business because it's tradition."

And tradition is important to Whited who spends all year thinking about the holidays. He owns a Christmas tree farm in North Carolina and one in Oregon and flies up often to see them grow.

"We live in the subtropics and you can't grow trees here ... but it's the tradition of it," said Whited who employs a large staff to help maintain the trees. "Most people are from up north and they are used to cutting down their own tree."

Whited sells trees that are watered and ready to be taken home but keeping them fresh is a priority.

"It takes no more than 45 seconds for my trees to be cut and put in a refrigerated truck," said Whited who sells fireworks during the off season. "In Oregon the weather is always rainy so a wheeled truck can't get in the fields ... we harvest by helicopter."

He is so proud of his Christmas tree operation that a painted mural adorns the inside walls of his warehouse.

"The distance between cutting and the truck is short because it has to be," said Whited pointing at the mural of a helicopter moving a tree near a mountain top.

He will sell an average of 2,500 to 3,000 trees this season.

"This one is eight feet," said Renato Medina, 39, who unloaded 700 fraser fir trees from North Carolina into the side of the 7,000 square foot warehouse.

The trees are hand carried and stacked together based on height. They are then watered and cared for until sold.

"We stack them standing up because they grow that way," Whited said adding that laying them down also keeps the tree from being evenly watered. "We also shake them up before we sell them to ensure all the needles come off and people don't think it's dying."

The care and quality the trees receive is why Whited — through fax and phone — takes orders from Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Honduras.

"It's amazing how much business we do overseas and even if I can't understand what they are saying ... they get them anyway," said Whited, who doesn't have a website. "We also do commercial decorating locally so we kind of do it all."

Russ Whited Fresh Christmas Trees also sells artificial trees, tree stands and bags that can be used to dispose of trees.

The economy hasn't affected the business either, he said.

"I look back at the 70's when we couldn't buy gas and that was one of our best years," Whited said. "It's about the tradition and celebrating the birth of Christ."

Sweets and Spirits elicit donations

Barbara Sherman, 73, of south Fort Myers, watches on as Bonefish Grill bartender Christine Dennis, 24, of south Fort Myers, pours a drink at the Chocolate & Spirits Festival at Bell Tower Shops.

Chocolate had south Fort Myers buzzing at the Bell Tower Shops recently as support for the Lee County Library System poured in from sweet-toothed donors.

Locals and shoppers at the mall participated in a Chocolate & Spirits Festival that raised $3,367.86 to support the library's Reading Festival and had a chance to taste sweet treats from area restaurants.

"I saw the posters at the library and it seemed like a good thing to support," said Barbara Sherman, 73, of south Fort Myers. "I go to the library twice a month and check out books and they let you keep them for a month."

Participants purchased tickets for $1 and used them to taste chocolate-covered pretzels, shakes, brownies and cherries.

"It's a great way to get your name out there and it's for a good cause," said Tammy Karau, the owner of Kilwin's Gulf Coast Town Center, who said she garnered business from attending the event last year. She was one of 11 vendors that participated. "It's like killing two birds with one stone."

The library system was hoping that the money collected would help cover the festival that is scheduled for March 15, 2008 in Fort Myers.

"I've been to several libraries in Lee County and they are great," said Anne Van Aller, 75, of Cape Coral. She drove down for the festival because she wanted to taste the brownie, cheesecake and Friday's new mint moose. "Everything is so good and it's nice to support the library."

Karen Sloan, the development specialist for the library system, was happy with the community's willingness to help.

"It's always a great success for us and it's particularly important to raise money for the Reading Festival because of the budget cuts," said Sloan, adding that the event is one of the most attended because it involves chocolate. "It's the chocolate! It really draws people in and people remember this one."