The Shadow
TREE ARRIVAL CEREMONY
The centerpiece of The Omni Homestead Resort’s holiday season is the Great Hall tree. Families have come year after year for this landmark event.
This year’s tree is a Fraser fir, a species native to the southern Allegheny Mountains. With its rounded needles and rich blue and silver coloring, this tree has become the most popular type of Christmas tree sold in North America in recent years. Sensitive to elevation, Fraser firs are grown on plantations at more than 3,000 feet above sea level. A Fraser fir can grow as much as 18 inches per season and as tall as 80 feet in its life span.
Our tree was planted 30 years ago at Henderson Tree Farm in Avery County, North Carolina. The Great Hall tree is some 23 feet tall. Every year, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, we wonder if the tree will fit through the five-foot-wide door. While some trees have given us a healthy fight, our team always prevails and with some holiday magic, the tree makes its way into the Great Hall. Once inside, the tree is hoisted, straightened and supported before our talented team of decorators prepare the tree for Wednesday’s festivities.
