Looking for the tree

Kevin Walsh has developed a theory during his time as tree lot chairman for the West Ashley Optimist Club: The time it takes people to pick out a Christmas tree is directly proportional to the number of people who accompany them.

For the Eigner family, that certainly has held true.

"You got a couple of hours?" Joe Eigner joked as his wife, sister-in-law and two daughters surveyed the trees at the club's lot on Playground Road near Highway 61.

It's an annual tradition -- and production -- for the Eigners to pick out their tree together. Joe Eigner is the family's official tree holder; the women are the decision-makers. The ladies stand in a semi-circle near Eigner and the tree-of-the-moment, assessing its freshness, height and width.

"Is it tall enough?" one asked.

"I like this one better than the other one," another said.

Sometimes they fluff its branches or ask Eigner to spin it. Oftentimes, they walk away to find a better prospect. And invariably, Eigner said, they end up choosing the first tree they saw.

Families across the Lowcountry began the hunt this weekend for the perfect Christmas tree. Many will return to the same spot they bought their tree last year, and the year before that, and the year before that.

Walsh has seen generations of families cycle through his club's lot; the Eigners have made the Optimist Club lot their first choice for at least two decades.

It's been a good year for Christmas trees growers, thanks to ample rain. The Optimist Club's trees come from Sparta, N.C., and Walsh said they were in excellent shape this year.

Down the road and in front of the Doscher's grocery store on Savannah Highway, the Christmas trees come from Boone, N.C. They also turned out to be a good crop because of the rain, said Jeff Tomlinson, who oversees the lot for the trees' grower, New River Nursery.

Despite the country's economic woes, those who are showing up to buy trees don't seem terribly concerned about price. A few tried unsuccessfully to haggle a better deal, and a few more people have looked without buying, Tomlinson said. But most customers haven't seemed upset about the prices, he said.

He expects next weekend to be an even busier one for Christmas tree buying because many people stayed home Saturday to watch annual Clemson-South Carolina football game.

One of Eigner's daughters skipped the tree-shopping ordeal this year because she was getting ready for the game, but Sarah Eigner, a sophomore at Clemson, opted to go with her family.

"As long as I see most of (the game), I'm fine," she said.

With only four decision-makers this year, she didn't have to miss too much, if any, of the game. Her family picked out their tree in less than 10 minutes -- a record.