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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Trimmed with care

Huttle Settlement U-cut tree program benefits many

Cheryl-Anne Millsap Down to Earth NW Correspondent
Every December we move furniture and bring in a tree to decorate a corner of the living room. Most years I stay home to get everything ready while my husband and whichever children are available make the trip to Green Bluff to cut a tree from one of the growers. We shake it and trim it to fit the stand and then decorate it. Then, a few days after Christmas, we take it all down. The tree goes to the recycler, after spending a few weeks in the backyard bedecked with treats for the birds, and the ornaments are put away. This year, we made a change. After reading in The Spokesman-Review that the Hutton Settlement, a residential and educational facility for children in need, was opening a U-cut lot in addition to their annual cut-tree sales, we decided to take our business there. Students had been caring for the trees, planted several years ago, until they were mature enough to be cut and sold. Because of the heavy Thanksgiving snowfall, the roads were treacherous. I was relieved the family wouldn’t have to make the long drive north. The Hutton Settlement is closer and at the bottom of a steep hill instead of the top. In half the time it would have taken to drive to Green Bluff, they were back. And with them was a beautiful fir. It was 6-feet tall, beautifully proportioned, and fragrant. Within minutes it was in the stand in the corner of the living room. Less time, less gas and a greater benefit. Cut trees are trucked for miles, sometimes thousands of miles. Artificial trees are made in China then freighted and trucked adding weight to the carbon footprint of each tree. I love the idea that the Christmas tree farm project at Hutton was educational. Students watered, weeded, trimmed and tended two rows each. Each of the 8,000 trees planted was an education in itself. I asked Mike Butler, Administrator for the Hutton Settlement Children’s Home, what he considered to be the benefit of the effort. “When watching them participate in this project we realize that the values they learn from all their experiences are so great that if the funds that came in did nothing more than pay expenses we would consider this project a great success,” he told me. Alexis Carruthers is a former houseparent and Hutton volunteer. She echoed Butler’s comments. “Hutton’s tree farm is more than just another community tree sale. The kids maintain and manage the tree farm and the annual Christmas sale,” she told me. “It takes a lot of hard work to run the sale but a lot more dedication to care for these trees throughout the year. It helps the kids learn business skills as well as develop a strong work ethic. But, it also gives the kids something to be proud of and a way for them to connect with the local community.” That only adds to the spirit of the holiday for me. Now, each time I look at my tree I think about the love and care that went into bringing it into my home. I think we have a new tradition.
Cheryl-Anne Millsap writes for The Spokesman-Review. Her essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons” and can be reached at catmillsap@gmail.com