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SYRACUSE — While hunting for a Christmas tree, some Utah families found something personal.
Three local men recently started the Elfland Trees Christmas tree lot and took a unique approach to their business by naming each tree after the elf who grew, cared for and loved it, according to co-founder Kyle Fultz.
As one family searched through the lot, they asked whether each tree carried a different name. When co-founder Todd Strong answered with the affirmative, they responded they would like the tree named Jessica.
Jessica is the name of their 12-year-old daughter who died earlier this year, Fultz said.
After hearing the story, Fultz began telling it to customers, and Jessica's family wasn't the only one who requested a special tree.
Some of the tree's name tags are purposely left blank in the event that customers want to name them themselves. Such was the case for Kimberlee Williams, whose son, Tyson, is serving in the Army in the Middle East.
"I just kinda feel like it brings a piece of him home, with him not being at home," Williams said.
Williams told her son about the tree, and he thinks it's awesome. As for Williams, she thinks Elfland Trees is doing a really cool thing.
Melissa Durante visited a couple of tree farms in the area before coming to Elfland Trees. The moment she walked in, she she saw the perfect tree.
When Durante was asked if she'd like to name the tree, she thought it was weird, but when she heard Jessica's story, it really hit home for her.
Durante named the tree Casey after her husband, Casey Archuleta, who died in a three-car accident in July.
No one got hurt in this process! The guy that owned the tree farm asked me what I was going to name my tree.. I looked...
Posted by Melissa Durante-Archuleta on Sunday, December 6, 2015
Durante thinks it's awesome to name a tree after a loved one and would like to do it in the future. "I feel like he's with me this Christmas, because he loved Christmas. … It makes me sad and happy," Durante said. "I'm sad, because it's my first Christmas without him, but I'm happy, because he gets to be a part of my house. Without being there, he's there."
Fultz said these stories make it worth the 20-plus hours he spent making the nametags.
Elfland Trees is located in Syracuse on the corner of 2000 West and Antelope Drive near Walmart. A second location in North Ogden is sponsored by Popcorn Express at 1853 N. 400 East. The tree names at North Ogden do repeat themselves.
