Holidays News
Season begins with annual forest expedition for local family.
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FarkRAPID CITY — For the Halter clan, it wouldn’t be the holidays without the annual trek into the Black Hills to harvest a Christmas tree.
“I was the age of my students when we first started going out to get a tree, said Carol Halter Waider, a fourth-grade teacher at Whitewood Elementary School.
“No matter what, that’s what kicks off the holiday season for me,” Waider said of the tree hunting expedition.
Waider’s dad, Mike Halter, agrees.
“We usually go out a week or two before Christmas,” Halter said. “It really is the start of the holiday season for me. Once we get the tree up, it means Christmas is really close.”
When Mike’s parents and his siblings moved to the Black Hills when he was a boy they would go into the Hills to get a tree.
“We came from the Eastern part of the state and they weren’t around,” he said. “To be able to do this in the Hills was a real novelty.”
The matriarch of the Halter clan, Nancy Halter, says the Christmas tree expedition has become a wonderful tradition that her family, including Mike, Carol, Katie and Kelly, along with friends still cherish.
“We always have Bing Crosby and Burl Ives music along. And we have to have snacks,” she said.
One of the staples of the trip is Rice Krispie treats, but they have to be made by Nancy. She allowed her sister, Becky Weber, to make the treats one year, but that attempt is now a standing joke with the family. As the story goes, someone tossed one of Weber’s treats on the ground and a car tire ran over it, but it didn’t break.
“Becky doesn’t get to make the treats anymore,” her sister said.
Other gastronomic delights include salami and cheese, hot chocolate, hot cider and on occasion, mini-donuts.
“For me, it’s all about the food,” Waider said.
She recalls one year when they brought mini-donuts and the group used them for a competition.
“We stood as far apart from the other person as we could and threw them in their mouth,” she said.
For the Halters, tree picking has become a science.
“If we’re going to kill a tree, we have to help save a tree,” Waider said. “So, whatever tree we pick, it has to have a buddy. That way, we have saved the second tree by giving it space to grow.”
She learned the approach from her mom who says that often having two trees grow side-by-side can mean a portion of the harvested tree has a sparse side.
“We try for the Charlie Brown-iest,” Nancy said.
Making a decision on which tree to choose can become a heated debate, the Halters admit.
“I’m very picky,” Nancy said. “I’m not as picky as I used to be, but I’m still picky. And I’m not a fan of short-needle pines.”
When asked to choose some of the memorable harvesting trips, surprisingly the Halters nearly all go for the same one.
It was a year when Nancy had back surgery and wasn’t able to go on the trip.
So, Mike and Becky Weber’s husband, Joe, took the three Halter kids.
“We thought we had dressed them warm enough, but as we treked across this field up by Deerfield, the kids started to turn back because of the cold,” Mike recalled.
Waider concurred.
“It was like 5,000 degrees below zero,” she said.
But the harvesting took place and in quick order, Mike said.
“I think that has been the only year there was two of us who made the decision on the tree,” he said.
In recent years the Halters have waited longer to go cut their tree because of severe drought conditions.
Once the tree is harvested, it is tied to the vehicle. Nancy said you need to make sure to have the cut end of the tree to the front of the vehicle, so the wind flows naturally through the branches during the ride home.
When the tree is placed in the house, they make sure the base is continually filled with fresh water.
“And it will drink a lot,” Nancy said.
The memories of all the tree harvesting trips are invaluable to Waider.
“Those things you do together as a family give you the comfort of knowing who you are as a person,” she said.
Christmas tree cutting information
You can help protect the Black Hills National Forest by following a few simple rules when you select and cut your tree.
You must have a permit for each tree. Permits cost $8 each and are available at all Forest Service offices in the area (except the Hell Canyon District office in Custer), several surrounding National Grassland offices and some private businesses.
You may buy your tree by mail. Make your check out to USDA Forest Service and send it to Black Hills National Forest, 25041 N. Highway 16, Custer, SD 57730. If you will include a stamped return envelope, the Forest Service will send your permit back the same day.
Trees are for personal use only and cannot be sold. There are no refunds for unused permits, and all permits expire Dec. 31 of this year.
You can cut your tree anywhere in the National Forest with the following exceptions:
n Active timber sales
n Campgrounds, picnic areas and other administrative sites
n Black Hills Experimental Forest near Roubaix Lake/Rochford
n Black Elk Wilderness
n Beaver Park area near Sturgis
n Spearfish Canyon
n Jasper Fire area near Custer
Before cutting, make sure you are not on private land. Remember to attach the adhesive permit to each tree before leaving.
not a fan of short-needle pines.”
When asked to choose some of the memorable harvesting trips, surprisingly the Halters nearly all go for the same one.
It was a year when Nancy had back surgery and wasn’t able to go on the trip.
So, Mike and Becky Weber’s husband, Joe, took the three Halter kids.
“We thought we had dressed them warm enough, but as we treked across this field up by Deerfield, the kids started to turn back because of the cold,” Mike recalled.
Waider concurred.
“It was like 5,000 degrees below zero,” she said.
But the harvesting took place and in quick order, Mike said.
“I think that has been the only year there was two of us who made the decision on the tree,” he said.
In recent years the Halters have waited longer to go cut their tree because of severe drought conditions.
Once the tree is harvested, it is tied to the vehicle. Nancy said you need to make sure to have the cut end of the tree to the front of the vehicle, so the wind flows naturally through the branches during the ride home.
When the tree is placed in the house, they make sure the base is continually filled with fresh water.
“And it will drink a lot,” Nancy said.
The memories of all the tree harvesting trips are invaluable to Waider.
“Those things you do together as a family give you the comfort of knowing who you are as a person,” she said.
Cutting guidelines:
The maximum tree height is 20 feet.
n Cut the stump within six inches of the ground.
n Cut and scatter the limbs and other unused parts of the tree so they lie within a foot of the ground.
For additional information, go online to www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills or call the nearest Forest Service office.
Contact Deb Holland at 394-8416 or deb.holland@rapidcityjournal.com
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