By Rick Dandes
MIFFLINBURG — Hundreds of bidders from the Valley will join buyers from Connecticut, New York, Delaware and Maryland today in what organizers call the largest annual Christmas tree auction in the U.S.
About 53,000 Christmas trees will be sold at auction today, beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, wreathes and seasonal decorations were on sale.
“I’d like to think we are the biggest, and one of the longest running wholesale auctions of its kind anywhere,” said Ben Courtney, assistant manager of Buffalo Valley Produce Auction, which runs the two-day event at its open air facility off Ridge Road, near Mifflinburg. “Twenty-two years ago, when this event began on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, 300 trees were auctioned off. We’ve grown a bit since then.
“We’ll get about 600 buyers at the tree auction.”
Courtney said the primary reason for the growth of the auction is location.
“This is a central spot for our sellers to meet buyers from all over the East Coast,” he said. “A lot of the trees are grown locally, Douglas firs, concolors, blue spruce. But we also have growers from as far away as West Virginia and North Carolina here to sell their Christmas trees.”
Trees sell in lots of 50, for $5 to $40 per tree, depending on quality. The most popular trees, Courtney said, are Fraser firs, trucked in from North Carolina, and Douglas firs. “They make up about 85 percent of what we have here.”
The economy does not seem to have affected large-scale buyers, Courtney said.
“We anticipate that prices will remain about the same as last year,” he said. “Demand for trees remains high. We find that decoratives have sold well for us and we expect the same today for Christmas trees.”
Buying trees in bulk has become an annual event for Allan Potter, of Middleburg. Potter bought 16 wreathes at $8.50 apiece, which he will use to help decorate Grace Covenant Community Church, in Middleburg. Today, he said he’ll be back to buy trees.
“You have to come early to get what you want,” he said, while carrying the wreathes from the staging area to his truck.
Bill Stafford, owner of a small retail craft store chain in Maryland, bought wreathes at the end of the day, when competitive bids were scarce. He figured to employ the same strategy for Christmas trees.
“There is so much here,” he said. “I’m looking for Douglas firs, and I’ll wait all day if I have to for a price I can live with.”
Stafford said he hoped to pay about $20 a tree.
Brandon Chappell, of Mifflinburg, was at the Monday wreathe auction just to watch. He didn’t plan to buy trees.
“I’m just in awe of the number of trees here,” he said. “I live just over the hill, but this is the first time I’ve come to the auction. It’s amazing. This is an incredible sight, 15 acres of trees for sale.”
