Do you pine for the look and smell of a real Christmas tree but find the process of choosing and caring for one daunting? The advice of fellow alumni can lessen your stress during the holiday season.

Kathi Albertson, MA '82, and her husband, Don, started their Christmas tree farm in Cambridge, Ohio, 13 years ago.

"I've always loved Christmas," says Albertson, who retired in June 2003 as director of continuing education at Ohio University-Zanesville. So, she decided to make the most of a plot of land she bought as an investment. For the first 10 years, she and her family planted 2,000 trees a year; now, they plant fewer trees but ones that are better and more targeted to customer demand, such as Fraser firs and concolor firs.

Albertson's sons, Paul, BSJ '94; Mark, BBA '95 and MBA '99; and Roy, BSCHE '96, spent college spring breaks helping plant the trees, and several Ohio University students work on the farm.

Albertson says searching for a family holiday tree makes memories that last forever. "A Christmas tree is the centerpiece for Christmas," she says.

Ken Carmon, BSED '69, MED '71, and his wife, Barb Ayling Carmon, BSED '69, own K&B Tree Farm in Bloomville, Ohio, near Tiffin. The couple started the farm in 1978 to help cover their children's college expenses.

Though more Americans are buying artificial trees, Ken Carmon says his customers enjoy choosing their own live trees. "We're selling an experience," he says, "not just a tree."

Albertson and Carmon offer these tips for finding and preserving the perfect Christmas tree:

• Measure the height of your ceiling before you leave home, and take into account your tree stand and tree-topping ornament. Tote along a tape measurer when you head to the tree farm.
• White pines have the longest, softest needles, while spruce trees' needles are shorter and pricklier. The shorter the needles, the shorter the tree's life span. Spruces and firs are typically more fragrant than pines.
• Just before you bring the tree inside, cut about an inch from the bottom of the trunk.
• Use a stand that holds plenty of water. If trees are well watered, they will not be a fire hazard and can last several weeks.

To find a live Christmas tree anywhere in the United States, visit the National Christmas Tree Association at www.realchristmastrees.org.

Sarah Welch, BSJ '03, was a student writer for University Communications and Marketing.