St. Mary's school in West learns fun lesson about owning and managing a Christmas tree farm

By MANDY JOHN | Central Texas Edition

The pre-K class at St. Mary's in West, Texas enjoy a hay ride while learning more about Christmas trees from Kathy Enzerink during their outing to Evergreen Acres tree farm in Ghoulson. -Staff photo by Mandy John

December 12, 2002 -- The pre-K class of St. Mary's in West got a chance to find out what it's like to own and operate a real-live Christmas tree farm on Dec. 4 when they visited the Evergreen Acres tree farm in Ghoulson.

Kathy Pustejovsky, the pre-K teacher, stated that it's a great activity for her kids to participate in. "We had to come back again this year since we were here last year and enjoyed it. It allows these kids to participate in something that they probably couldn't do anywhere else because of their age."

"What we mainly grow here are Virginia pine trees," explained Kathy Enzerink, owner of the tree farm. "You will find these pines all over East Texas as well."

Enzerink and her husband, Gerry, planted their first Christmas tree in Jan. 1990. Four years later, they had enough trees to start their own business.

"My husband and I grow around 4,000-5,000 trees every year. We have these kinds of field trips for the kids starting at the beginning of December so that they can see what a real Christmas tree looks like. We go on a hay ride, have a scavenger hunt, read a story, and have a cookie. It's lots of fun and we both enjoy it very much.

"I mainly like doing this because I have always been a teacher at heart, even though I never taught in a school. This is a positive learning environment for kids. It teaches them that Christmas trees are good for the environment and they learn that these trees are also considered a part of Texas agriculture. Many people don't think of Christmas trees as a crop, but they are. That is why I feel it is important for kids to learn about them by coming here and having me tell them about the different kinds of Christmas trees."

At the moment, Enzerink has a great memory of a student who took the information from one her field trips back home with him.

"My favorite story so far is about one of the students named Eric, who is autistic and came with his resource class to the tree farm. When he got home that afternoon from the field trip, his mother wanted him to go shopping with her. He told her he didn't want to go with her and instead, he went to the back door and told his mother to come with him. She went out to see what he was doing. He proceeded to go outside, get his wagon, put his stuffed animals into the wagon and then got his dog. He then took them around the backyard, going from tree to tree. His mother said that he was taking them on a hayride at a tree farm. That is something that really touched my heart."

For more information about Evergreen Acres Christmas tree farm call 254-829-0090.