UPPER MAHANOY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A Christmas tree farm in our area received an honor on Tuesday as representatives from the White House were on hand to select a Christmas tree that will be placed in the Blue Room during this holiday season.
Mahantango Valley Farms, which straddles the Northumberland/Schuylkill county line, has been in the Snyder Family for well over 200 years, but the family has never received an honor quite like this. After the farm won a state and national competition, the White House chose a tree from here to adorn the Blue Room over the holidays.
"It is probably the most exciting and humbling experience you could experience as a tree grower because you are now providing the White House, America's home for the president and first lady, a Christmas tree," Larry Snyder said.
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, there are 13,000 farms growing Christmas trees across the country, yet Mahantango Valley Farms is the one to provide a tree to the White House.
"It hasn't fully sank in yet," Snyder said.
The tree that was selected was planted about 16 years ago and is 22 to 24 feet high. It currently sits in Upper Mahanoy Township in Northumberland County.
"It's an incredible experience to be able to come out and select something that is going to be viewed by hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. You want to make sure that it's absolutely perfect because it's going into the Blue Room of the White House, and the White House belongs to all of us as American citizens, and we don't want to make a mistake," said Timothy Harleth, chief usher of the executive residence of the White House.
The tree will be harvested at the end of November and then delivered to the White House in Washington, D.C.