NEWLAND, N.C. — When the White House Christmas tree shines bright and festive this year, it will be a reminder of a nation still recovering after Helene. The tree will be harvested from Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm in Newland, a small town in western North Carolina hit hard by the storm.
The Cartner brothers said they are honored to have one of their trees chosen to be in the White House.
“We had two that were in our top list and this is one them,” Sam Cartner said. “It had to be at least 19 feet tall and could not more than 12 feet wide.”
Tis the season to find the perfect Christmas tree for the White House.
“The thing about the tree is that it needs be full all the way around because it’s not against a wall and people walk all around the tree,” Dale Haney, the White House grounds superintendent, explained.
It’s a Fraser fir, known for its needle retention, strong branches and pleasant aroma.
The tree was selected Monday morning by White House staffers visiting the Avery County farm. Cartner's Christmas Tree Farm was the winner of the National Christmas Tree Association’s national tree contest.
The tree will be cut down on Nov. 20 before being displayed in the Blue Room of the White House.
This is a high honor for the Cartner brothers.
“We want it to represent all of the other Christmas tree farmers, all of western North Carolina who endured the worst natural disaster in our history,” Cartner said. “And we want to represent all of the love and generosity from all of the people in United States.”
The tree stands as a symbol of hope, faith and love and the Cartner brothers are naming it, Tremendous.
“It’s a symbol of what is good in humanity,” Cartner explained. “That is what we wanted it to represent.
Avery County was among the mountainous counties impacted by Helene. A month after the storm, the community is still rebuilding.
“We are prepared for a flood but not to this magnitude,” Marshall Sizemore, a Newland resident, told WCNC Charlotte last week. “We ended up with nine feet plus right in this spot, enough to knock buildings off their foundations and roll cars down the road.”
Many homes were gutted out and weeks later homes remain without power.
The prolonged power outages have left restaurants like the Cranberry Street Cafe seeking solutions for the community.
"We're part restaurant, part catastrophe relief," Belle Morgan, co-owner of the Cranberry Street Cafe, told WCNC Charlotte earlier the month as the restaurants served up free, hot meals using donated food.
Newland was one of the communities that received some of the 10,000 cold-weather clothing items donated by WCNC Charlotte viewers on behalf of the Share the Warmth campaign.
“Our team has spent hundreds of hours opening, sorting, bagging. And then we’ve had great partners in the community provide trucks,” Joan Barrett, WCNC Charlotte’s general manager, said.
North Carolina has a history of providing Christmas trees to the White House. This year marks the 16th time since 1971.
The state also provided the official White House tree in 2023. In 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris selected a North Carolina Fraser fir Christmas tree to display in her home.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
