This time of year is a reminder of family, tradition, harmony, and festivity. To many of us, the holidays bring back great memories. Chenango County Cornell Cooperative Extension recently held a contest asking readers to submit their favorite Christmas tree memory. Winners received a $25 gift certificate toward a fresh cut Christmas tree from a local tree farm. Here are some of the winning entries ...

My Favorite Christmas tree Memory

By Lisa A. Jones, Sherburne

When I was a little girl, I remember the excitement that would build up when Christmas time would come. We lived on a hill at the base of what used to be called Hunt’s Mountain in Sherburne, where the trees grew tall with the winds whispering through their boughs and the water was so cool and sweet and plentiful, you weren’t scared to cross a stream and bend to scoop a handful up and take a drink before you went on your way. Things were easy back then, memories good, and Christmas time meant that not only would Santa be coming, but two weekends before Christmas, always on a Saturday, my father and I and maybe my older brother would go down the hill below to our neighbor’s tree farm, and cut a tree. We would drag it up our hill and begin the process to make our tree beautiful.