For many people, buying a Christmas tree can seem like a yearly chore that you either take care of right away, or you leave for the last minute as you scramble to find the nearest tree lot.

But for those who own these Christmas tree farms, it's about more than just a holiday -- it's a tradition of connecting with the community and leaving a legacy for their own children.

"It's a family tradition in many regards," said Ryan Nielsen, owner of the Alpine Christmas Trees in Dublin. "Most of our customers are returning customers and some of those customers (who) watched me grow up ... they come back in and bring their grandkids in to pick out trees."

The longtime Dublin native has been working on his tree lot, which is located on 4441 Tassajara Road on Dublin's southern border with Pleasanton, ever since his father first started the business in 1982.

Then in 2010, Nielsen took over the family business with his wife Keri, and they are now continuing the tradition of handpicking trees in Washington and shipping them down to their lot where they now have their own kids to help.

He said that one of the best things about owning the business and having his kids work on the farm is that it teaches them work ethic and financial responsibility. He also said that, just like when he was a kid, it helps them connect with their community and the people around them.

"Even if it's a short time of year and a seasonal type of business, I think an argument that can be made is that that's disappearing in greater society," Nielsen said. "If you can come back to that and enjoy that, and I can teach my kids a little bit about it and what it takes to work and make money and be a part of a community and part of something, that's kind of the whole reason for the season for me and the spirit of it."

But seeing multiple generations of families come back to a tree lot isn't something all too rare, especially in the smaller communities in the Tri-Valley.

That's also the case for Jerry Collver, owner of Morning Glory Farm Christmas Trees. Collver is also no stranger to the Christmas tree industry having started his business in 1977.

He told the Weekly that at first he started it just for fun, but over the years he has expanded his business to the point where he now has three lots in the Tri-Valley -- his main one on the north Pleasanton border at 6900 Amador Plaza Road, and his other two in Danville and Pleasant Hill, which two of his sons now run.

"It's something they grew up doing," Collver said. "From the time they were little they were throwing Christmas trees on the truck and they love it as much as I do."

Collver, who also owns an organic produce farm in Oregon, grows most of the trees he sells and said that the Christmas tree business is a labor of love that his family uses as vacation time to reconnect with customers who have supported him throughout the years.

He said that apart from bringing his family gifts ranging from Thanksgiving dinners to coffee, he really appreciates his customers who supported his businesses even when he was diagnosed with cancer. He said his doctors at the time only gave him six months to live.

"I was diagnosed with cancer six years ago and they told me I wasn't gonna be coming back, but I beat the cancer," Collver said. "My customers were all really supportive. It was really pretty neat. I mean they watched me go through all of that."

Now, he said he is proud to keep the business alive, to see his children begin to take over and to watch his customers' children and grandchildren start their own traditions of picking out trees.

"We got people that now come all the way from L.A., because they always bought their giant Christmas tree here," Collver said. "They'll get the whole family together ... and make a two day road trip out of it just because it's tradition. That's loyal customers."

But unlike Collver and Nielsen, not all the tree lots in the Tri-Valley have that long history of being around.

For Craig Rivers, owner of Mocho Creek Trees in Livermore, he is in his fourth year of running his farm on his ranch, which is one of the oldest homesteads in Livermore.

The farm, located on 5723 Mines Road, has been home to Rivers' family for over 40 years and is where he has been raising cattle as his main job.

Being the side hustler he is, Rivers said that he decided to open up the Christmas tree lot in 2019 in order to make a little extra money in a way that he can get his whole family involved.

"I thought I would try to pull the family together and see if we could do a little Christmas tree lot, something that we could all work on and build a future for the grandkids and the kids," Rivers said. "If it works, and we keep doing it, it's something they can do as they grow older."

The Livermore native said that so far, business has been good for his family and, much like Collver and Nielsen, the pandemic was actually a profitable time for them.

All three farmers said that 2020 was a really good year for them and even last year was great, but due to inflation, the economy or just bad weather conditions, this year has been a bit slower than usual.

"Ultimately, we do have to pass what cost we have to the customers and I think that people are seeing what the future may potentially hold and they're tightening their belts," Nielsen said. "Where we would see seven-, eight-foot Christmas trees being a dominant type and height to be sold, we're seeing six-, seven-foot Christmas trees (being sold)."

However, all three agreed that even if they need to stay an extra week to sell those last few trees, business has been good and they hope to continue their tradition of bringing families the holiday spirit.

"People that came in with their little guys, now (those kids are) coming in with their little guys," Collver said. "Even with only 16 years, we've seen generations change, so that's pretty neat."

All three farmers also urged people to consider buying real trees over the fake plastic trees, not because they're biased and want the business, but because they said it's environmentally sustainable.

"I think there's a big misconception about how good for the environment fake trees are compared to real tree," Nielsen said."When people buy a fake Christmas tree, first off, a plastic tree is only going to come out of the box so many times when it doesn't come out like you want it to."

The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit that works to conserve nature, argues on its website not only are real trees better for the environment, faux trees leave a larger carbon footprint due to the labor of creating the plastic products and shipping them overseas.

"In the U.S., around 10 million artificial trees are purchased each season," according to the website. "Nearly 90% of them are shipped across the world from China, resulting in an increase of carbon emissions and resources. And because of the material they are made of, most artificial trees are not recyclable and end up in local landfills."

Collver added that not only are you helping keep plastic out of landfills when you buy a real tree, you are also helping produce more oxygen in the atmosphere.

"A young Christmas tree will actually give you more oxygen than a full grown tree as they're growing," he said. "They're creating more oxygen than a big tree because they're young and growing."

For Rivers, he said buying a real tree also brings in that Christmas smell that everyone knows and loves.

"To me it just doesn't even really seem real," he said. "It just doesn't seem like Christmas to me with a plastic tree."