Virginia Evergreen Winter 2018

throughout the Mansion. Again, ku- dos to both John and Ronnie for be- ing excellent representatives of the Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association. Elsewhere in this edi- tion of the Journal you will find pho- tos taken at the event. In other VCTGA news, the Board of Directors had been hard at work working to implement aspects of the strategic planning session that was held in September 2017. Several work groups have been formed to look at areas of the VCTGA mission to determine how to further increase the value of your membership dollar. Those areas include association man- agement, communications, member- ship recruitment, member education and research beneficial to both the re- tail and wholesale segments of the in- dustry. Included in all these discus- sions will be ways to make your farm even more successful through new and different offerings that will help drive traffic and sales. Work will continue through the Spring. We hope to be able to report some of the results at the 2018 Annual Meeting. And speaking of the 2018 Annual Meeting, while we haven’t decided on a location at this point, please mark your calendars tentatively for either the first or second week of Au- gust. Last year’s meeting was well at- tended and very educational and we hope to have the 2018 meeting equally as informative and produc- tive for our members. Thank you.

From the President

Good day everyone. As this is being written we have finished the first two weeks of the 2017 Christmas selling and by many accounts, sales have in- creased by double digits. Several farms in Central Virginia and the Northern Piedmont have indicated they were closing early or limiting sales to their remaining precut trees. We will anxiously await a post sea- son report from the Christmas Tree Promotion Board and the National Christmas Tree Association for a broader analysis of the season as to what was driving this apparent up- swing in sales. But all in all, it seems that, despite the tight market condi- tions for trees, sales at most farms in Virginia were up. CONGRATULA- TIONS TO ALL! The VCTGA was once again honored to present the Christmas tree and wreaths to the Governor’s mansion in Richmond. There was a large gather- ing of folks at the Mansion on No- vember 21 st for the presentation. Congratulations to Ronnie Richard- son for hauling in a beautiful 14-foot Fraser Fir to grace the main ballroom in the Governor’s home. It was quite a sight to see as it was being un- loaded. More congratulations are in order for John Houston of Sweet Providence Farm in Floyd for pre- senting the Governor with a healthy supply of wreaths for decorations

Jeff Gregson, VCTGA President, and Governor Terry McAuliffe, at the

tree/wreath presentation at the Governor's Mansion

Special Thanks to these MANTS Trade Show Volunteers!!! Greg Miller for providing a B&B Fir Christmas tree and wreath for the VDACS/VCTGA exhibit, shipping, and returning the VCTGA displays. Jeff Miller for setting up the display Also THANKS to VDACS Marketing staff Danny Neel and Keith Long for staffing the exhibit during the 3-day show with over 11,000 attendees!

Thanks!

Jeff Gregson, President VCTGA 2016-18 Bees and Trees Farm, Elkwood, VA

VCTGA News Journal ‒ Winter 2018 VCT ews Journal – Winter 2018 

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