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Christmas tree business at 64 years

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — The Christmas tree is a symbol of the holidays for most people as well as a tradition. For some people, part of the tradition is going out and hand picking their very own authentic Christmas tree to set up and decorate for their home. Ernie Black and his son Scott believe this is a long lived tradition and one to be kept alive.

Scott Black,, at left, and Ernie Black owe E. Black and Son Nursery near Sherrard, W.Va. The family business has been thriving for 64 years and was started by Ernie Black when he was still in high school.
Scott Black,, at left, and Ernie Black owe E. Black and Son Nursery near Sherrard, W.Va. The family business has been thriving for 64 years and was started by Ernie Black when he was still in high school.
Ernie and Scott Black own a Christmas tree nursery on Route 88 near Sherrard; E. Black and Son Nursery. This business has been thriving for 64 years and was started by Ernie Black when he was still in high school.

“I just decided one year to sell Christmas trees. I got excused from high school at 3 o’clock every day and went and sold trees until about 8 o’clock at night and back to school the next day. The business just kept getting bigger and bigger,” said E. Black.

This business sells around 500 trees usually to people from all over. Black said he had a couple people from the Middlebourne area purchase trees this year.  They have people come from Steubenville, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and Columbus.

Their tallest tree stood 11 feet tall. It’s a long process to harvest a Christmas tree crop. They plant them in the spring and it takes about seven years to get a crop. Before the turkey is in the oven on Thanksgiving, they are cutting their crop to prepare for the Christmas season. They also have a special kind of tree called a flocked tree. This kind of tree is decorated white to give it the effect of a snow covered tree.

 “The flocked trees are done with a special machine. It comes as a dust and it blows this dust through a mist of water and it makes it sticky and applies it to the tree,” said S. Black. “The two main varieties that are done are Scotch pine and Fraser. Both of those keep really well with the flocking. There are some varieties that don’t. They are rigid enough and strong enough to hold that little bit of extra weight and make it look real.”

Since Ernie Black has been in business so long, he has moved around a little bit and has learned a lot throughout the years.

“I started on Chicken Neck Hill, Woodsdale section, then went to Fulton, then went to the top of Bethlehem Hill up where Jay’s Pharmacy was. The bank is there now. Then I went from there to here. We’ve been here about 48 years,” said E. Black. “I’ve been around long enough that a lot of the original customers have passed. They were older when I started. I’ve been around a long time.”

Both Ernie and Scott believe that a real Christmas tree has a special place in the heart of those that have made this a tradition in their families.

“A lot of people consider it a tradition. They come here and they’ve been coming here for years. They love walking into this building and smelling the pine. They get the chance to pick it out, and sometimes they let the kids make the decisions. Little things like that make it worthwhile,” said S. Black. “I think the traditional part of it for a lot of people is what keeps them coming back. They know it’s a family business, I think they just love walking into this old shed, looking at all the junk, the smell of the pine, and they know next year when they come back it’s not going to change. And you know what’s kind of special about it too? You get to watch families grow each year they come back. We still have people telling us, I know my grand pap and grandmother bought their trees here. So that’s kind of special.”

Many families have passed down traditions, each year and hold fast to those traditions every holiday. Traditions and memories are things that you cherish long after the particular moment is gone. Many people look at this business that has been established in this area for so many years, and see it as more than a business, but also as a tradition and a memory.

“I had a fellow here the other day that has been coming here for 30 years to get a tree, and another one 25 years,” said E. Black.

As it is a memory for all the people that visit E. Black and Son Nursery, memories are also created in the hearts of those that work there.

“I’ve tied a tree on a bumper before. We had a Volkswagen stop and it had a little bit of a bumper stuck out in the back, set it on the bumper and tied it. We’ve had people come in, husband and wife, and they can’t decide and get angry and leave. I had one of those yesterday,” said E. Black. “I had a guy the other day that came in and was here close to an hour picking out a tree. Finally, he asked me which one I would take and I told him, I wouldn’t take the one you’re looking at that’s for sure. So I helped him out.”

“We’ve tied live trees with the dirtballs on top of car roofs and watched them leave. A lot of cut trees leave on the roofs of vehicles, but not too many bur-lapped ones,” said S. Black.

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