MARTINSVILLE, Ill. (WTWO/WAWV) – One local tree farm hopes to bring more meaning to your Christmas decorations.
What started in 1984 as Christmas trees sitting on three acres surrounding the Dahnke family home, now sits on 30 acres as Dahnke Family Farm.
Among the family, is 10-year-old Cooper Dahnke.
“My grandma asked me to start a stand of some kind and I had an idea for little trees since it’s a Christmas tree farm and so I thought of memory trees so you can think back and remember whenever your kids were this small and then seven years later when they’re this tall,” Cooper Dahnke said.
Not only can you get a Christmas tree accompanied with a day full of activities at Dahnke Family Farm, but you can get a memory tree.
Cooper came up with the idea a few years ago to give people a way to remember lost family members.
“Cooper approached his grandpa actually and asked grandpa if maybe he could help him do this and Doug decided well we could dig them and Cooper could go help him dig the trees and get them ready to bring here,” Yvonne Dahnke, Cooper’s grandmother said.
Yvonne said the family has a personal connection to the memory tree, which she thinks may have sparked the idea.
“Cooper is our oldest grandchild and we lost a daughter so part of this came from her memory too and so he wants other people to have the opportunity to memorialize their family member with it or they can use it as a memory that they’re building with their family as it grows,” Yvonne Dahnke said.
Cooper said he has seen a positive reaction from the community in years past and hopes that will continue this season.
The idea is the tree grows along with your family, or the memory of a loved one.
“We have a kit that comes along with it, it has reindeer manure, sticks to keep the tree straight and some mulch to put around it to make it look good,” Cooper said.
The memory trees are $25.
Dahnke Family Farms is open Monday-Friday from 3-5 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
