White House staff picks ‘Tree-mendous’ as 2024 Christmas fir

Right on schedule, a pair of White House representatives showed up Oct. 28 at Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm near Newland in Avery County, N.C., to select the “perfect” Fraser fir to adorn the majestic Blue Room of the U.S. President’s home in Washington, D.C., during the upcoming Christmas season.

They were Dale Haney, the White House grounds superintendent, and Robert Downey, White House chief usher. They picked a 20-foot tree that measures 12 feet wide.

Sam Cartner Jr., who owns the 500-acre tree farm along with his brothers Jim and Dave, said the tree is about 25 years old. 

The Cartner brothers named the winning tree “Tree-mendous” and attached a large red, white and blue bow to the boughs.

 

Sam Cartner Jr. told Christian Gardner of the Avery Journal Times that “Tree-mendous holds tremendous meaning, carrying hope and happiness to all those affected by Hurricane Helene recently in North Carolina.”

“It means so much to have this tree come from Avery County, especially after what everyone has been through,”

Sam Cartner Jr. said. “We’re very proud to represent Avery County and other western North Carolina counties that grow Christmas trees. We want it to symbolize all the good of mankind and what we’ve experienced here in the last month since the storm.”

Haney (shown below) has been down this road multiple times. At age 73, he has served on the grounds crew at White House for 52 years, have been hired in 1972 during the Richard Nixon administration. 

He has North Carolina connections, having graduated from the horticulture program at Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst.

Haney was completing an internship at the Dumbarton Oaks historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, when he was recruited to become a gardener at the White House.

Over the years, Haney advanced from gardener to foreman to chief horticulturalist. He became superintendent of the White House grounds in 2008, during the administration of George W. Bush.

Haney told the Journal Times: “We consider size, shape, how straight the tree is and, of course how good it smells.”

Downey, who became the chief usher when Joe Biden was inaugurated as president in 2021, said: “North Carolina has a great agricultural system and heritage, and the trees here are fantastic; and this year in particular, because of all they’ve been through (since Helene), it shows the resilience of North Carolina.”

 

Cartner’s was founded as a family farm in 1959 by Sam Cartner Sr. and his wife, Margaret. Both are now deceased, so their three sons have inherited the business. “We’re really proud of our trees, but it’s but it’s not just about Cartner’s,” said Sam Cartner Jr. “It’s about Fraser firs, raised in western North Carolina.”

“Fraser firs are native to this area, and they have great characteristics of needle retention and color and fragrance. Needles that are soft but the limbs firm enough to hold ornaments, so it’s a great species to grow,” he said. “It’s the Number Two money producer behind tourism in this region.”

 

I can’t tell you how many customers have called and asked how we did through the flood and the hurricane just to check on us,” Sam Cartner Jr. told Theresa Opeka of The Carolina Journal.

Tree-mendous will be harvested on Nov. 20 and displayed at Mountain Glen Country Club north of Newland from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. for a community event and toy drive benefiting flood victims. Flood first responder units will also be recognized.

The Cartners plan to be present when Tree-mendous arrives at the White House on Nov. 25.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, Cartner’s Choose & Cut season opens Nov. 23 & 24 and continues Nov. 28-Dec. 1 and Dec. 7 & 8. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 

Cherry Point facilities drive eastern N.C. regional economy

During his many years as a civilian employee at the “Naval Aviation Depot,” which has been renamed as Fleet Readiness Center East, aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock…and during his time as a Mayor of the Town of Newport…Derryl Garner was constantly “building bridges” between the public and private sectors.

 

One organization that Mayor Garner helped create in the 1990s continues to effectively mesh military interests with the needs of citizens who reside in the communities around Cherry Point. It’s a partnership that is known today as Allies for Cherry Point’s Tomorrow (ACT).

For years, Mayor Garner was the lead spokesperson for ACT, positioning Cherry Point as a critical component of the nation’s defense network, warding off threats of base curtailments or closure.

It’s unclear if Mayor Garner wrote the message: “Pardon Our Noise. It’s the Sound of Freedom.” But he certainly embraced it.

Because Mayor Garner always viewed Cherry Point as a regional asset and the primary source of jobs for residents of Carteret, Craven, Jones and Pamlico counties, it only made sense to have the four counties band together and speak with one, unified voice.

 

ACT is an example of a collaboration that works for the benefit of all and avoids getting mired down in petty politics.

ACT’s primary focus is to: “Educate the public and raise awareness about the significance of Cherry Point, its history and its role in supporting both the local community and the entire U.S. military on a global scale.”

The F-35 Lightning II squadrons of Joint Strike Fighters have arrived at Cherry Point. Both the F-35B and F-35C variants are now aboard the Air Station and are replacing fleets of F-18 A/C/D Hornets, AV-8B Harriers and the EA-6B Prowler aircraft. 

ACT had begun to lobby for the F-35s in 2012.

One longtime ACT board member acknowledged that Derryl Garner was a visionary who repeatedly cautioned against any development project that could potentially encroach upon Cherry Point’s ability to train aviators.

“Nothing could finer in eastern North Carolina” than the payroll generated year after year by Cherry Point, Mayor Garner would say.

A Marine Corps spokesperson stated: “MCAS Cherry Point is home to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, which serves as aviation combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, and Fleet Readiness Center East (FRC East), a world-class maintenance, engineering and logistics support center for all branches of the U.S. military.”

With a combined workforce of 11,823 (6,467 active-duty military and 5,356 civilian employees), Cherry Point facilities have an annual economic impact that exceeds $2.19 billion. That is probably a conservative estimate.

ACT has identified a few more “talking points.”

     Approximately 23,150 people – one out of every four people living in the four-county         area – is connected to Cherry Point, either as active-duty military, civilian employees,         family, dependents or retirees.

 

Cherry Point purchases nearly $1 billion in goods and services a year from local companies and vendors.

 

FRC East is the largest industrial employer east of I-95, providing high-skilled, high-wage civilian jobs that pay an average of nearly $61,000 per year.

 

Looking at an even bigger picture, Carteret County also benefits from the presence of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River near Jacksonville in neighboring Onslow County.

 

A Marine Corps spokesperson said these Onslow bases provide an annual economic impact of more than $4.82 billion, with a combined military and civilian employment that totals 48,624.

In 2015, to reaffirm North Carolina’s commitment to be the “most military and veteran friendly state in the nation,” the North Carolina General Assembly authorized funding to establish a Department of Military & Veterans Affairs. One goal is to “assist our veterans in any way we can during their transition to civilian life and beyond,” said Gov. Roy Cooper.

“Veterans shall be granted preference in employment with every state department, agency and institution,” he added.

Newport, N.C., motto emphasizes ‘old-fashioned courtesy’

Newport, N.C., grew up as a railroad town, blossoming with the opening of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad in 1858, connecting the port at Morehead City to Goldsboro.

Today, the tracks continue to pass “through the heart of Newport.” Newport was officially chartered in 1866. 

The community’s history, however, dates to the early 1700s, when a crossroads settlement was known as Bell’s Corner and later as Bell’s Landing. Early Carteret County census rolls listed several Bell families.

The community was also known for a short time as Shepardsville. David Shepard and his family members were also prominent landowners in the region.

Long before U.S. Route 70 came to Newport, the Newport River, which weaves through Carteret County and empties into the Beaufort Inlet, served as the “highway over which early settlers traveled” to and from the coast.

Newport officials say the town was called “New Port” to distinguish it from the “Old Port” of Beaufort. Others believe an early influx of Quakers from Rhode Island name the town “Newport” in honor of their native Newport, R.I.

Regardless, Newport professes to be “the town with old-fashioned courtesy,” welcoming visitors, guests and newcomers.

 

The town saw action early in the Civil War, when Union troops took possession in 1862 of the Confederacy’s Newport Barracks and Fort Benjamin, a large earthwork garrison to guard a railroad bridge over the Newport River.

In January 1864, Confederate Gen. James Green Martin of Elizabeth City, N.C. (shown below), was tapped to lead a force of almost 2,000 soldiers from Wilmington, N.C., to support an expedition to drive Union troops out of New Bern.

 

At Newport Barracks, Martin encountered Union soldiers under the command of Lt. Col. Valentine Goodrich Barney of Swanton, Vt. (shown below), on Feb. 2, 1864. After a brief battle, Barney’s men abandoned the fort, retreating to Beaufort. Each side had five fatalities.

When Martin learned that the Confederate troops invading from Kinston had failed in their attempt to retake New Bern on the previous day (Feb. 1), he ordered his men to return to Wilmington, taking valuable supplies and equipment from the barracks with them.

The Newport Historical Museum, housed in “The Teacherage,” provides a wealth of additional information. In 1926-27, the North Carolina school system decided to build a “teacherage” for the single, female schoolteachers employed by the Newport Consolidated School.

 

The large, two-story structure accommodated 16 teachers in a dormitory-style facility with a common kitchen and dining room.

A full-time matron was hired to cook and help with cleaning. Teachers had rent deducted from their monthly paychecks. In the early 1940s, the building was converted into apartments for married couples. The facility was eventually sold at auction in 1981.

The teacherage became a museum in 2012, operated by the Newport Consolidated Alumni Association. (Newport’s high school had closed in 1964, as students began attending the new West Carteret High School in Morehead City.)

Looking to protect its future in 2014, the Newport town government enacted a model tall structure ordinance to ensure that wind turbines do not encroach on the air space used by pilots during their training at nearby Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

 

John Droz Jr., an active opponent of wind energy, said that Cherry Point is a “bastion of national defense and the major employer in eastern North Carolina. If the airspace surrounding Cherry Point became endangered by wind turbines, it could make the base a likely candidate for base closure.”

“The nation’s national defense notwithstanding, at an annual loss of $2 billion in wages and salaries, eastern North Carolina would be devastated,” Droz said.

 

Here’s how Cherry Point came into existence during WW II

The U.S. Congress authorized the construction of a Marine Corps Air Station in southern Craven County, N.C., along the Neuse River in July 1941 with an initial appropriation of nearly $15 million to clear an 8,000-acre tract of swamps, farms and timberland…and then build the airfield to shore up national security.

Construction got underway in November 1941, just 17 days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which immediately immersed the U.S. military into World War II.

The facility was originally planned as “Cunningham Field at Cherry Point” in memory of Lt. Col. Alfred A. Cunningham of Atlanta, Ga. (shown below), the first Marine officer to become an aviator in 1912.

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point (incorporating Cunningham Field) was commissioned on May 20, 1942, taking its name from a small settlement of fishermen and hunters that once existed at “Cherry Point Landing” on the Neuse River near Hancock Creek.

“Havelock Station” was the name of a railroad depot that was built in 1858 to serve the steam locomotives that chugged along the new Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad. Tracks ran 95 miles from Morehead City through New Bern and on to Goldsboro.

Havelock historian Eddie Ellis said somebody selected the name of “Havelock” as a tribute to Sir Henry Havelock (shown below). He was a British general who died in 1857 after “gaining worldwide fame for his heroic rescues of hostage citizens during a bloody uprising in India.”

 

During America’s Civil War, Union troops captured New Bern in 1862. Yankee soldiers were charged with guarding Havelock Station, about 18 miles southeast of New Bern, for the duration of the war.

Ellis said: “The Union troops had few kind comments about the Havelock area, calling it desolate, snake-infested and muddy. One correspondent said the only comfort for the soldiers was the ‘chain-lightning whiskey’ available from local stores and farmhouses.”

That endearing term was used to describe inferior, but high-octane, hooch that had “powerful and rapid effect.”

After the Civil War, Havelock Station grew in importance. Ellis said: “Timber, naval stores and agricultural products went out of Havelock by steam train. This rail commerce helped foster a local economic boom.”

“A lot of high-quality, desirable moonshine was shipped from the area during Prohibition (1920-33), smuggled aboard the train hidden in potato barrels or shipments of fish,” Ellis said.

“The existence of the railroad was a critical element in the selection of Havelock” for the Marine Corps base. Ellis said: “Without the railroad, the base would have been built elsewhere with dire consequences for this community. During construction, nearly everything, including Marines and Sailors, was delivered by the trains….”

Marine Corps’ historians said: “Interestingly, early records indicate that the air station’s location was determined by viewing a ‘sunshine map.’ Having the greatest amount of annual sunshine is an important factor in an air base.”

 

Only a few wispy clouds dare to cast their shadows on Cherry Point.

“Two bad features that detracted from Cherry Point’s desirability were its exposure to hurricanes and the presence of malarial mosquitoes due to the swamps. Fortunately, sunshine won the day.”

Cherry Point’s primary World War II mission was to train units and individual Marines for service in the Pacific theater.

Ellis said: “Although the town of Havelock grew, it remained unincorporated with no local government structure, depending on the base for firefighting, ambulance services and to some extent law enforcement. The county was the only government for the area,” he said.

Havelock community leaders decided that a municipal government would be practical and useful, Ellis said. Havelock was chartered in 1959. Today, Havelock is classified as a city and has a population of about 16,570.

Newport’s connection to WW II deserves its own chapter

Whew. Just in the nick of time. To put the finishing touches on a lengthy formal resolution about why Carteret County, N.C., deserves recognition as a “World War II Heritage” community, we can turn to a special military section published in the November 2024 edition of Our State magazine to bolster our case.

 The issue arrived in mailboxes of subscribers in mid-October. Editors begin: “For the more than 720,000 veterans who call our state home, North Carolina’s deep military tradition is a live point of pride. Our former and current service members – and the communities that support them – are beacons of bravery and possibility.”

Our State’s writers fanned out to report on: Fort Butner, an Army training camp that “sprang from the fields north of Raleigh” amid World War II; Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune at Jacksonville; Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro; the Army’s Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in Fayetteville; and Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City.

Best of all is the piece titled “The Jets Next Door,” written by Ryan Stancil of New Bern, who credited Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock with having “built an unshakable bond between two eastern North Carolina towns: Newport and Havelock.”

Stancil personalized his account by interviewing Newport native Kyle Garner, who is the Planning and Inspections Director with the Town of Beaufort. He is the son of the late Derryl Garner (shown below), the man who served for several decades as Cherry Point’s “chief advocate.”

As a teenager, Derryl Garner entered the apprentice program offered through the Naval Aviation Depot aboard Cherry Point; he graduated in 1950 as an aeronautics engineering draftsman. He never left the air station.

At the time of his retirement in 1992 (after a 42-year career), Derryl Garner was serving as Manager of Systems Safety Engineering. He received the “Meritorious Civil Service Award” from the Department of the Navy.

Stancil commented that Derryl Garner’s “dedication to the base was matched only by his love of Newport” and his immediate family.

One of Kyle Garner’s fondest memories occurred as a boy in the 1970s, when his father took him aboard the base one early morning. They went to the top of the control tower.

“Suddenly, a roar filled Kyle’s ears,” Stancil said. “A silver bullet raced across the horizon, dropping in elevation as it approached the tower. The roar grew louder, its pitch climbing. The Harrier jet hovered, then entered a slow, near-vertical descent, finally coming to rest on the tarmac.”

Kyle Garner witnessed the first demonstration flight of a Harrier jet in North Carolina.

 

Stancil said that Derryl Garner was approached about running for the Newport town council in 1977, but his boss at Cherry Point suggested: “Hell, Derryl, run for mayor instead. Be the top dog.”

Derryl Garner was elected mayor in 1977…and reelected in every election thereafter until 2013 when he opted to step down after serving 36 consecutive years as Mayor of Newport.

When the Department of Defense, through its Base Realignment and Closure Commission, was considering shutting down a number of U.S. military bases in the early 1990s, Derryl Garner was recruited by North Carolina Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. (shown below) to help stand up in support of the state’s military bases. Derryl Garner testified before the commission in 1993.

 

The final report recommended closing 33 major sites, but none in North Carolina.

Derryl Garner deserved much of the credit but accepted none. That’s the kind of person he was. He died in 2017 at age 85, but his legacy still looms large.

Woolly worm show must go on: Winter forecast released

Remnants of Hurricane Helene that dumped tons of rain on the western North Carolina mountain counties beginning on Sept. 27, forced the cancellation of the 2024 Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk (scheduled during the weekend of Oct.19-20).

The highlight of the big event is always the finals of woolly worm races. The woolly worm that is the fastest to shinny up a 36-inch string typically becomes the official prognosticator of winter weather for North Carolina’s High Country region.

 

The forecast is based on the color of the woolly worm’s 13 bands or body segments, which correspond to each week of winter.

While woolly worms are mostly black and a rust-colored brown, it takes an expert to “read the worm and interpret the results.” For many years, this task has been performed by local Avery County celebrity Tommy Burleson of Newland.

At 7-foot-2, he stands out in a crowd. Burleson played professional basketball for a time after winning an NCAA championship with the North Carolina State University Wolfpack in 1974 (50 years ago).

While leaders of the sponsoring organizations – the Avery County Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Baner Elk – said they hated to call off the festival this year, it was the right thing to do, since much of Avery County – including Banner Elk – is still in flood recovery mode. (Avery County Schools are hopeful to reopen for students on Nov. 6.)

 

Yet, a modified 2024 woolly worm race was held on Oct. 20, with a limited field of seven contestants. Each represented a flood disaster first responder unit in the county. The champion woolly worm belonged to the Newland Volunteer Fire Department.

 

Here is Burleson’s assessment of the winter forecast:

Week 1: Snow and below average temperatures.

Weeks 2-4: Light snow or frost and below average temperatures.

Weeks 5-6: Average temperatures.

Weeks 7-8: Light snow or frost and below average temperatures.

Weeks 9-10: Average temperatures.

Weeks 11-13: Snow and below average temperatures.

Festival organizers say they have been keeping score since 1978, and the woolly worm forecasts are 87.6% accurate.

If the winter 2024-25 forecast holds true with no periods of balmy weather, there is high anticipation for an excellent season for skiing and other winter sports in the months ahead.

Certainly, no one blames the prior year’s winning woolly worm, named “Jeffery,” for the devastation caused during the hurricane season flooding.

Jeffery’s sole job was to predict the weather for the 13 weeks of winter in 2023-24.

By the time Helene rolled through, Jeffery had been transformed from a fuzzy-wuzzy, 1½-inch caterpillar into an Isabella tiger moth and was long gone.

 

The first serious scientist to study woolly worms in 1948 was Dr. Charles Howard Curran, a Canadian entomologist and curator of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He would routinely drive about 50 miles north to visit Bear Mountain State Park on the Hudson River and examine “woolly bear caterpillars.”

Catherine Boeckmann of the Old Farmer’s Almanac said that Dr. Curran (shown below) spent eight years collecting the caterpillars in an attempt to prove scientifically “a weather rule of thumb that was as old as the hills around Bear Mountain.”

 

“Although the experiments legitimized folklore to some, they were simply an excuse for having fun. Curran, his wife, and their group of friends escaped the city to see the foliage each fall, calling themselves ‘The Original Society of the Friends of the Woolly Bear.’”

The torch has since passed to the folks at Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk.

Win tickets to 2024 National Christmas Tree Lighting event

North Carolinians may want to enter a lottery for a chance to win free tickets to attend the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony outside the White House in Washington, D.C, on Thursday, Dec. 5.

 It’s a narrow window, however, so you need to act fast. The lottery, which is organized by the National Park Service (NPS), opens at 10 a.m. on Oct. 23 and closes at 3 p.m. on Oct. 30.

 

Call 1-877-444-6777 to enter the lottery. Or go online at recreation.gov and click on the “chat” option for instructions. There are some restrictions. Only one application is allowed per household, and a maximum of five tickets will be awarded. All attendees, regardless of age, are required to have a ticket. Lottery results will be announced on Nov. 8.

The big event takes place at The Ellipse in President’s Park South, a 52-acre park located directly south of the White House. Approximately 10,000 people typically attend, including members of the First Family. Celebrity entertainers are scheduled to perform.

 

Parking is tricky, so the NPS strongly encourages the use of public transportation by way of the Metro commuter rail line or buses.

Throughout the month of December, visitors are invited to view the National Christmas Tree, as well as the 58 smaller trees honoring the states, territories and District of Columbia, as part of the “Pathway of Peace” display. 

These trees are typically 7-foot Fraser firs grown in North Carolina that are decorated with ornaments contributed by students that symbolize the uniqueness of their home state or territory.

For the past five seasons, Mountain Top Fraser Fir, a wholesale Christmas tree farm near Newland in North Carolina’s Avery County, has donated all of trees for this project.

Mountain Top Fraser Fir is owned by brothers Larry and Lynn Smith, along with business partner Dale Benfield. Their farm has been growing and selling Christmas trees since 1977.

Traditionally, during the first week of November, Larry Smith (shown below) walks the farm and hand picks each tree that will go to Washington for the display. “Each tree needs to be the same size and able to hold the 20+ ornaments decorated by the school children.”

 

Larry Smith said he “got the bug” in 2018, when one of his trees was selected to be displayed inside the White House in the famous Blue Room.

“It’s pretty neat any time you can do anything for the White House,” he said. “It’s an honor to think something that a small-town farmer grows gets to go to the White House.”

Now, Larry Smith regularly attends the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. “I love being part of it,” he said. “You just see the joy on everyone’s faces. It’s just so magical and such a special experience.”

 As previously announced at Wagnabbit, the White House has selected Fraser firs from North Carolina to grace the Blue Room 17 times – more than any other state.

The official White House Blue Room Christmas tree in 2024 is being supplied by Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm, which was established in 1959 and is also located near Newland.

Let’s all celebrate a Tar Heel State Christmas tree dynasty. Fraser firs forever.

Since 1973, the NPS has been using a live tree as the National Christmas Tree, rather than a cut tree. Several of the replanted trees, however, have become diseased, requiring replacement.

In 2023, a 40-foot Norway spruce from the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia was brought in just weeks before the tree lighting ceremony. It seems to be doing well.

  

 “The People’s Tree,” which is a gigantic Christmas tree displayed annually at the U.S. Capitol, is coming from the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

 
The tree – a Sitka spruce – is now growing on Kupreanof Island, part of the Alexander Archipelago in the Southeast Alaska Panhandle.

 Each year, a tree from one of the 154 national forests is selected for the honor by the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

This will be the second time Alaska has provided the Capitol tree. In 2015, the Forest Service selected a tree from the Chugach National Forest near Prince William Sound, about 90 miles east of Anchorage.

“It’s an honor to have the 2024 U.S. Capitol tree come from Alaska,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. “With more than 22 million acres of pristine wilderness, Alaska’s forests not only symbolize the grandeur of our nation but also embody the spirit of resilience and unity.”

 

The Architect of the Capitol will be traveling to Alaska to select the specific tree, which will range in height from 65 to 85 feet.

84 Lumber is a presenting sponsor of the Capitol Christmas Tree, which will travel more than 4,200 miles from the Tongass National Forest to the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

 

“With this year’s tree coming from Alaska, it will cover a lot more ground and reach even more communities as it makes its way to the Capitol,” said Maggie Hardy (shown below), owner and CEO of 84 Lumber. “All of us at 84 Lumber are proud to help bring this annual holiday gift to our nation’s capital for everyone in the country to enjoy.”

 

The Capitol Christmas Tree lighting is planned for Tuesday, Dec. 3.