A cut above: Generations of customers visit Dollinger Christmas Tree Farm

SHANNON, Ill. — Growing Christmas trees has spanned several generations of the Dollinger family, as well as multiple generations of customers.

“We have second- and third-generation customers,” said Janie Dollinger, who operates Dollinger Christmas Tree Farm together with her husband, John, and their son, Mark, daughter-in-law, Shanna, and grandsons, Cooper and Maddex.

“We have a customer that gets a decoration for a grave that her parents bought from us since 1967,” Janie said. “We recognize people right away even though we only see them once a year and they say ‘I want the same order as last year.’”

The tree farm was established in 1956, when John’s dad, Ned, decided to plant Christmas trees.

“Ned thought it would be a good job for John and his sister, Jill, to help plant trees and learn how to shear trees,” Janie said. “We have about 26 acres of trees here, and Mark has 15 to 20 acres of trees on his farm.”

Trees in the field that are for sale are tagged with the price and the kind of tree. Several types of trees are available, including white pine, Scotch pine, Canaan fir, concolor fir, blue spruce, Norway spruce, Meyers spruce and Serbian spruce.

“The Meyers spruce is relatively new; it is a pretty dark, green tree and they really hold their needles,” John said. “It has tendency to grow a little hairy and wild and some get cones on them and hold their cones.”

“We specialize in bigger trees, so we have a lot of trees that are 10, 12 or 14 foot,” Janie said. “We just sent a 20-foot tree to a shopping center in Rockford.”

The most popular tree sold at the farm is Canaan fir.

“We sell from 600 to 700 trees a year,” John said.

That requires the family to plant about 1,500 trees each year. In the past, new trees were interplanted at the farm; however, now the growers are working to clear cut an area for new tree plantings.

“We are working on getting three acres clear cut then dig all the stumps, reseed it this summer and next year plant trees there,” John said.

“We plant about three seedlings for every tree that is harvested,” Janie added.

In addition to trees, the Dollingers sell about 600 wreaths each year.

“It’s increased every year,” Janie said. “People like the variety of greens we use, they know they are fresh cut greens and we make custom wreaths for people.”

The wreaths range in size from 6 inches up to 48 inches, as well as other shapes, including a cross, candy cane and this year, for the first time, a horse head.

“We make something for everybody,” Janie said.

A crew of workers makes wreaths at the Carroll County farm.

“Judy has worked here 35 years, and she made the horse head wreath,” said Janie, who makes the 48-inch wreaths. “She has tied a lot of bows, and she recognizes most of the returning customers from year to year.

“Mary is our main cutter, and she is the expert on 6-inch wreaths,” Janie said. “Everybody can make a 6-inch wreath, but Mary is the best.”

“Dena cuts boughs, and she can hop over to the wreath machine, too, because everybody here does more than one thing,” Janie said. “Rena is cutting greens, and Cathy has the patience of a saint when she is helping customers pick out ribbons for their wreath.”

“Margaret works for us year around doing tree planting, tree shearing and she is our mechanic,” Janie said. “This place could not operate without Margaret, and she also designed the logo for our farm.”

Janie has maintained a special book of wreath orders for many years.

“People don’t just get a plain wreath for their door,” she noted. “They want the bow at 1 o’clock or 11 o’clock, and we keep track of that from year to year, including the ribbon.”

The first 30 customers in the book are standing orders from one year to the next.

“These are delivered to a cemetery or to their house,” Janie said. “We go to five cemeteries and we have maps of the cemeteries, so John knows where to place the wreaths on easels and we do a cemetery saddle that goes over the stone.”

Some of the customers have unique requests.

“We sent greeting cards to all these people, and they come here to pick out a wreath,” Janie said. “Then we put all the wreaths on the customer’s bill, and that is her Christmas gift to them.”

Another customer of the farm has wreaths mailed to several people located in many areas, including Minnesota and Kentucky.

“The wreaths that are going to be mailed usually go out the Monday of Thanksgiving week,” Janie said.

Gift Shop

In the gift shop, a variety of items are for sale that are made by local artisans and crafters.

“This jewelry is made by Cathy, so that is why she works in this spot,” Janie said. “This seam ripper and walnut French rolling pin was made by a college guy from Lanark.”

Other items include crocheted hats and stockings that could be used for gift cards or to hold silverware at a table place setting, popcorn raised by a 4-H and FFA member from Pearl City, maple syrup and handmade soap.

“I had a gallon of olive oil in the back of my pantry and I did not want to dump it so my girlfriend and I learned how to make soap,” Janie said. “The most popular soap is Northern Forrest, and it has such a pretty green color.”