For 40 years Follen Church and Calais, Maine have had a very special Christmas connection!

By Janet Lane

In the midst of change you can still count on heading outdoors to pick a Christmas tree from the lot across the street from Follen Church, at 755 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington. You will be served by a masked Follen volunteer, who will help you bring the scent of the woods home as we all head indoors for Winter.

Follen provides free tree coupons to the Lexington Youth and Family Services Office. They distribute the coupons (exchangeable for any tree on the lot) to families under financial strain so they can share in some Christmas joy. The lot will open starting at noon on the Friday after Thanksgiving, November 27. Trees will be sold on Saturdays, 9:00 am-7:00 pm; Sundays, 12:00-7:00 pm; Tuesday-Thursdays, 3:00-7:00 pm; and Fridays 1:00-7:00 pm; up through December 24. (The lot is closed Mondays).

For over 40 years, Follen’s trees have traveled down from Calais, Maine, near the Canadian border, where Alden Mingo selects balsam fir trees from his extensive woods, a short distance from Passamaquoddy Bay in Canada. His balsam fir trees are self-seeded, so 10-inch trees grow alongside 10-foot trees. He walks the lot, “shearing” or shaping the trees as they grow. Tree harvest waits until there have been several nights of deep freeze, so the resin in the needles can move toward the branches, setting the needles securely for transport. It takes about ten years for a tree to grow to the height most in demand. His business has grown to include many seasonal harvests: Christmas trees, wreath making, cranberry, blueberry, and strawberry harvest. Mingo Products employs local workers and craftspeople and continues to evolve. When Alden’s son, Artie, had a child born with a blood disorder, Artie started making ribbon wreaths to raise funds for cancer research, and Artie began Wreaths for Hope, sharing many of the resources and staff of Mingo Products. (For more information, go to www. mingosproducts.com and www.wreathsforhope.org)

Now 82, Alden began making Christmas wreaths as a child in the 1940s to earn money for necessities. He and his wife, Donna, married soon after high school and started a wreath business on the side of their day jobs in 1958. Alden learned Christmas trees through years of trial and error. In his mid 20’s he learned how to shape a tree by watching “two Canadian guys” who welcomed him and coached him as he traveled back and forth across the border with more questions. As Alden and Donna’s family of four children grew, so grew their businesses. They tried other ventures. They built and ran a summer campground with family for thirty plus years. In 1965 the Mingos began selling wreaths and trees full time, and they learned what customers liked by selling their trees and wreaths in person all over New England. Alden used to drive the seven hours to bring the trees down to Follen Church himself. Now he hires truck drivers and sells his wreaths mail order around the country.

Follen Church has sold trees since 1974. Follen’s first minister, Charles Follen, was a German activist and immigrant who arrived in Lexington and brought the Christmas tree custom with him. In December of 1834, Charles and Eliza Follen hosted Harriet Martineau (a journalist for Godey’s Ladies Book) at their home. After she saw their tree lit with candles, Harriet wrote about it, and raved about it in the magazine, and the Christmas tree custom spread throughout New England.

The whole Follen congregation participates in tree sales: turning a parking lot into a tree lot, unloading the tree truck, pricing trees by height and quality, staffing sales, and fresh cutting the tree’s base for each customer on request. (Trees naturally seal with resin at their base, so by trimming off at least an inch of the trunk and placing it soon-after in water, you will allow the tree to drink and stay fresh longer.)
If you are thinking about a tree, come see where it all began, support a church and know your money helps other families. (A mask is required).