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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018
Christmas tree farmers combat artifi cial trees
A social media
ad campaign
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press
TUALATIN — Rosa Vil-
larreal’s three young sons
jumped and ran around the
fi eld of Christmas trees like
jackrabbits, their excitement
palpable as they raced from
evergreen to evergreen. The
boys, ages 2, 4 and 6, were
picking out a real tree this
year — a new tradition their
young parents hope will cre-
ate lasting memories.
“I saw this video where
the big tree, the mom deco-
rates it, and the little tree, the
kids get to decorate it,” she
said, as her husband, Jason
Jimenez, snapped a photo of
their toddler posing with a
tiny tree just his size.
Christmas tree farmers
across the U.S. worry fam-
ilies like Villarreal’s are
slowly dwindling. Artifi cial
trees, once crude imitations
of an evergreen, are now so
realistic that it’s hard to tell
AP Photo/Eric Risberg
A woman gets assistance purchasing an artifi cial
Christmas tree at the Balsam Hill Outlet store in
Burlingame, Calif.
they are fakes even though
many are conveniently pre-
strung with lights and can
fold up for storage at the push
of a button.
Between 75 and 80 per-
cent of Americans who have
a Christmas tree now have
an artifi cial one, and the $1
billion market for fake trees
is growing at about 4 per-
cent a year — even though
they can be reused again and
again.
To combat this trend,
Christmas tree farmers have
joined forces as the Christ-
mas Tree Promotion Board
and are running a social
media ad campaign this hol-
iday season to tout the ben-
efi ts of a real evergreen.
The campaign, called “It’s
Christmas. Keep It Real!,” is
funded by a 15-cent fee that
tree farmers pay for each tree
they harvest.
It’s a modern-day attempt
at such famous agricul-
tural ad campaigns as “Got
Milk?” and “Beef. It’s
What’s For Dinner.”
A series of short mov-
ies on Instagram and Face-
book follow real families as
they hunt for the perfect tree,
cut it down and decorate it.
The target audience is the
“millennial mom” because
tree farmers are increasingly
worried that young adults
starting their own family tra-
ditions will opt for an arti-
fi cial tree, costing farmers
a generation of customers,
said Marsha Gray, execu-
tive director of the Christ-
mas Tree Promotion Board,
based in Michigan.
“The target we’re talking
about right now is millen-
nials: fi rst house, fi rst baby.
That’s kind of the deci-
sion-making time,” she said,
adding that the videos show
families cutting their own
trees and buying pre-cut
trees from lots.
“We realize they may
have never done this before.
And we need to help them
discover it and fi gure out
Helping Hands closes one
Seaside center, to open another
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Helping
Hands has closed one facil-
ity in Seaside as the home-
less outreach center prepares
to replace it with another.
Raven Russell, the out-
reach center’s development
director, told city councilors
Monday night that the cen-
ter was unable to negotiate
terms with the landlord for
the rental of the building on
U.S. Highway 101.
The “vast majority” of
former residents of the facil-
ity are now served in a new
housing facility in Asto-
ria, where they have better
access to county resources,
Russell said.
The shelter on Marine
Drive opened last month.
The new Seaside facility,
located on the east side of
U.S. Highway 101, is “much
larger than it appears,” Rus-
sell said, with 10 emergency
shelter beds and long-term
housing slots.
The new facility should
be open within the next two
weeks. In the meantime, beds
remain available at the Astoria
facility, she said, with occu-
pancy about 90 percent of
capacity.
In 2004, Alan Evans, the
organization’s founder and
executive director, opened
an eight-bed home for the
homeless in Seaside. Help-
ing Hands now operates 11
emergency homeless shelter
and re-entry program facil-
ities, providing up to 190
beds per night in Clatsop,
Tillamook, Yamhill and Lin-
coln counties.
The new Seaside prop-
erty is owned by the state
Department of Transporta-
tion and leased for $150 a
month.
Repairs include a new
kitchen, bathrooms and
fl ooring . “We’re actually
going to be increasing our
capacity at that facility with
this renovation,” Russell
said. “We’re trying to add as
many beds as we can to meet
the needs of the homeless in
this area.”
how to include it in their
holiday.”
It’s impossible to know
exactly how many real
Christmas trees are sold each
year because there is no cen-
tral clearinghouse or agency
collecting that information.
But the National Christmas
Tree Association estimates
about 25 million evergreens
are harvested each year —
and presumably, most of
those are sold.
Americans buy about 10
million artifi cial trees each
year, said Thomas “Mac”
Harman, CEO of Balsam
Hill, the leading retailer of
artifi cial Christmas trees.
Harman is also the president
of the American Christmas
Tree Association, which does
not disclose its membership
but raised $70,000 in dona-
tions in 2016 for its work,
which includes touting artifi -
cial trees.
Most people buying arti-
fi cial trees cite convenience,
allergens and fi re safety, he
said.
“We’re seeing a trend
where consumers want to set
their tree up over Thanksgiv-
ing weekend and leave it up
all the way until after New
Year’s.” That’s safer with
an artifi cial tree, Harman
said.
Denise Shackleton got a
real tree each season before
switching to an artifi cial one.
On a recent day, she was at
an artifi cial tree outlet store
in Burlingame, Califor-
nia, shopping for a new tree
for herself and one for her
daughter.
“No one got as excited
about a real tree as me, but
it was just too much work to
put the real tree on my car,
get it into the house — all of
that,” she said. “It’s totally
for convenience.”
Patricia “Ann” Maize
Born Patricia Ann Davis on November 14th, 1936 in Astoria, OR, Ann
always preferred being called by her middle name. She was raised
and schooled in the neighboring town of Warrenton, Oregon, where
she lived most of her life. Thanks to her parents, Ruby and Russell
Davis, she lived a full and active childhood, alongside her five older
brothers: Russell (John), Ralph, Robert (Bob), Wilbur (Wink) and
Richard (Dick) and one younger sister Bonnie (Beanie). As the first-
born daughter following the birth of 5 boys, Ann learned to hold her
own and grew to become an independent, strong and capable woman,
traits that she embodied throughout her entire life. As her dad Russell
said, “she was my best son!”
As in most small towns, high school played an important role in ones’
life. Ann joined the high school cheering squad and wooed her team
to victory, eventually wooing the key football and basketball star, her
husband, Richard (Dick) Maize, as well.
Following their wedding on June 17, 1956, they moved to Forest Grove
to take advantage of Dick’s basketball scholarships at Pacific Lutheran
and again to Oregon State University where the coach then took him
to Sacramento State University. It was there that they welcomed their first child, Stephen Richard, in 1958. While Dick was at
school or on the court, Ann worked at the Pacific Bell Telephone and Telegraph company.
Ann and Dick moved back to Warrenton in 1959 where Dick joined the family grocery business, Maize’s Market and Ann
continued her role as homemaker following the births of daughter Julie in 1961 and son Russell in 1962. They conveniently
lived across the street from the store in downtown Warrenton until they moved into their “dream” home at Smith Lake in 1969.
Ann spent her parental years keeping pace with her kids’ active schedules, which included hunting, fishing, horse and dog
shows as well as many golf tournaments. Ann loved her family and home and she always made sure her kids came back to a
well-kept and maintained home. The yard was large and after she finished the mowing, pruning and tending to her roses and
the burn pile, it was time to start all over again. Word soon circulated around town that no matter what time of day you passed
her house, there would be Ann on the lawn mower. She was equally active in the family business and her community; Ann
loved to golf and was President at the Astoria Golf & Country Club Women’s Group and a Deacon at her Church. She also
helped when needed at the family grocery stores in Warrenton and Gearhart, and at their last venture, Westlake Market located
on the Clatsop Plains.
Ann became a nurturing caregiver to her husband Richard after he suffered a stroke in 1998 and remained so until his death in
2004. Of all her accomplishments, the one that Ann was most proud of was her family and the friends she loved. You would
feel welcomed at her home immediately while greeted with a fully decorated, outdoor table set, set for visiting. She made the
time and found the specific way to make you feel special. And anyone who knew Ann would laugh as she frequently said,
“there’s no room for errors” referring to any family accomplishment.
Ann died unexpectedly on Tuesday, December 5th with her family at her side. She is survived by her son Steve (Connie)
of Phoenix, Arizona, her daughter Julie of Portland, Oregon her son Russell (Chris) of Long Beach, Washington, her eight
grandchildren: Thomas, Ciara, Stevie, Weston, Christian, Ashley, Whitney & Karli and her great- grandchildren TJ, Connor,
Braden and the newest, Jack; and her sister Beanie Johnsen.
Viewing will be held from 1 – 6 pm. Friday, December 14th, at Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary, 1165 Franklin Ave., in Astoria.
A service and reception will be held at Warrenton Methodist Church on Saturday, December 15th at 11:00 am followed by a
graveside service at 2:00 pm at Ocean View Cemetery. Memorial contributions, in her honor, can be made to: Warrenton
Methodist Church, P.O. Box 296, Warrenton, OR 97146. The impact Ann had on her family and friends will remain eternal.
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