It’s probably safe to assume there’s nobody who loves Christmas trees more than Jeannie Harrison.
The North Carolina woman, known as the “Christmas Tree Lady,” starts decorating on the first of October, every year.
By the time she was done this year, she’d packed 175 trees into her house.
"I love sharing it with people, I love decorating,” Harrison said.
There's hardly a square inch of this house that isn't touched.
"I just started one day and it got bigger and bigger,” she said. "I get peoples’ junk and make it my treasures.”
Her collection of Christmas odds and ends adorning her house includes seven rotating trees, 12 Charlie Brown trees, 19 Nativity scenes, and 14 lit pictures on the walls.
There are even another 13 trees in storage that couldn’t fit into the house.
Each room and every tree is themed, and every one is special, according to Harrison.
Harrison and her husband Robbie started this venture in 2010.
“I told Jeannie when we moved in this house - she wanted to do some big decorating. I said, well, I love Christmas and I love decorations, but I don’t decorate,” Robbie Harrison said. “So, you’ll have to do all the decorating.”
So she did.
Since then, Harrison estimates they’ve had about a thousand visitors to their indoor winter wonderland. While many have been local, others from as far as New York and Pennsylvania have made the pilgrimage.
“Their mouth flies open,” she said. “They’ll say, ‘I can’t believe this. I feel like I’m in ‘A Christmas Story.’'"
Year after year, Harrison spends countless hours trimming each tree to perfection.
And she doesn't ask for a penny.
"I love watching people. I love sharing with my stuff,” she said. “All I ask is for everyone to bring one canned good to the pastor's pantry, that's all I need, to give someone else something to eat and other people to enjoy Christmas like I do."
The Harrisons' home stays open to visitors as long as the decorations stay up, which is usually until the second week of January.
(Source: WTVM)
The North Carolina woman, known as the “Christmas Tree Lady,” starts decorating on the first of October, every year.
By the time she was done this year, she’d packed 175 trees into her house.
"I love sharing it with people, I love decorating,” Harrison said.
There's hardly a square inch of this house that isn't touched.
"I just started one day and it got bigger and bigger,” she said. "I get peoples’ junk and make it my treasures.”
Her collection of Christmas odds and ends adorning her house includes seven rotating trees, 12 Charlie Brown trees, 19 Nativity scenes, and 14 lit pictures on the walls.
There are even another 13 trees in storage that couldn’t fit into the house.
Each room and every tree is themed, and every one is special, according to Harrison.
Harrison and her husband Robbie started this venture in 2010.
“I told Jeannie when we moved in this house - she wanted to do some big decorating. I said, well, I love Christmas and I love decorations, but I don’t decorate,” Robbie Harrison said. “So, you’ll have to do all the decorating.”
So she did.
Since then, Harrison estimates they’ve had about a thousand visitors to their indoor winter wonderland. While many have been local, others from as far as New York and Pennsylvania have made the pilgrimage.
“Their mouth flies open,” she said. “They’ll say, ‘I can’t believe this. I feel like I’m in ‘A Christmas Story.’'"
Year after year, Harrison spends countless hours trimming each tree to perfection.
And she doesn't ask for a penny.
"I love watching people. I love sharing with my stuff,” she said. “All I ask is for everyone to bring one canned good to the pastor's pantry, that's all I need, to give someone else something to eat and other people to enjoy Christmas like I do."
The Harrisons' home stays open to visitors as long as the decorations stay up, which is usually until the second week of January.
(Source: WTVM)
No comments:
Post a Comment