A piece of home: Nova Scotia Christmas trees hauled to Fort McMurray, Alta.
Homesickness around the holiday season led one couple living in northern Alberta to start a Christmas tree lot stocked with special firs from their family farm in Nova Scotia.
Fort McMurray is home to many east coasters, and for most of them, there's nothing like a Nova Scotian Balsam Fir Christmas tree.
The Lenihan family has grown the Christmas trees for generations, but the economic downturn in 2013 pushed Blake to leave the farm behind with his brother and work in Fort McMurray.
"Blake was heartbroken not to have a piece of home with him, and he really missed his Nova Scotia Balsam Fir Christmas trees," his wife Ann Kidston told CTV News Edmonton. "He was homesick."
"Blake and Laird have grown up harvesting and selling Christmas trees and selling firewood."
In 2014, Kidston set out to have one tree shipped from the family farm more than 5,000 kilometres away until she found out it would cost a small fortune.
"We knew there were other east coasters out here," she added. "So, why not try to bring a little bit of our home out here with us to Fort McMurray."
That's what prompted McMurrays Christmas Trees. The business has grown from sending just a dozen trees in its first year to hundreds.
"We've been doing it ever since," Kidston said. "It's a labour of love."
This year, 601 trees were shipped to the northern Alberta town. Half of the trees sold in just 24 hours this weekend.
"It's sort of like our Christmas when our trees arrive," Kidston said. "We love to be right there… cause you can just smell the balsam fir.
"Balsam fir has a wonderful fragrance," she added.
People lined up at the Christmas tree lot in Fort McMurray, Alta., Saturday morning to get their hands on a Balsam Fir tree (Supplied).
In the past, Kidston said the trees would be brought by truck from the farm in Lunenburg County to Halifax then taken by rail to Edmonton. From there, a truck would rush them to Fort McMurray.
With supply challenges due to the pandemic, the family had to enlist the help of a truck hauler to bring them the entire way to northern Alberta in time for Christmas.
Lloyd Benedict, who usually hauls seafood and helps others move between the provinces with Radars Moves, filled his transport truck with the trees.
"That's definitely a piece of home," Benedict said. "We figured the east coasters that live out here; it's a big part of being home."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Here's what Trudeau says the upcoming federal budget will offer renters
The federal government will create a new 'Canadian Renters' Bill of Rights,' which would require landlords to disclose their properties' rental price history to prospective tenants.