This year’s official White House Christmas tree came from a family farm in hurricane ravaged North Carolina, which has special meaning for the farm’s owners, the Cartner family. The Cartner Family farm, which provided the 20-foot Christmas tree to the White House this year, was hit hard by hurricane Helene, which destroyed thousands of trees on their property.
Sam Cartner, one of three brothers that own the farm, told the Associated Press in an article published earlier this month, that he hopes this year’s tree will hold special meaning for those in the area given all they’ve been through and that residents see it as an “uplifting symbol for the other farmers and other people in western North Carolina that have experienced so many losses.”
The farm, which was founded in 1959 by Sam’s parents, lost thousands of trees this year due to the hurricane. The Cartner Christmas tree farm has more than 500 planted acres of land and ships trees all over the country.
Earlier this year, the Cartner Christmas tree farm was named the 2024 grand champion of the National Christmas Tree Association’s contest, which resulted in the White House honor. The chosen tree is roughly 25 years old and weighs up to 500 pounds. It’s so big that a crane was required to load it onto a transport truck to deliver it to Washington, D.C. It was selected by White House staff members and will be housed in the Blue Room.
Read the full Associated Press article on the Cartner 2024 White House Christmas tree by clicking here.
To learn more about the Cartner Christmas tree farm, view the video below.
