For the past few years, the Jefferson City Optimist Club has been telling people who are wanting a live Christmas tree for the holidays to not wait, but get their trees early.
That message didn't change this year as the organization began their sales this holiday weekend on the parking lot of Hawthorn Bank on West Dunklin Street.
"We got 570 trees, which is about the same amount we've had the past couple of years," Optimist member Don Lewis said. "The suppliers have continued to cut back what they send out as they work to try and catch up with demand."
The Optimists sell Balsam firs from Michigan and Scotch pines from Nova Scotia, Canada, along with Fraser firs, grown in North Carolina and Michigan. Last year, the Optimists sold out faster than expected - just two weeks after they opened for business.
"About six or seven years ago, the tree industry decided maybe the live tree business was going down, so they didn't plant as many as they normally would," Lewis said. "We're paying for that now."
Unlike most sales, extra inventory can't be ordered quickly when things start to sell out. So the lot closes when the trees are gone.
Tree prices vary by height and type. Smaller trees are available for $30, with prices increasing from there.
"The Fraser firs are the most popular and year after year that's the one they short us on the most," Lewis said. "We did get a new supplier of Balsam fir trees and got more of them."
Lewis said they usually stay open through Dec. 15-18, but he's not sure if they'll be around that long this year.
"We had our biggest one day of sales on Black Friday in 2020," Lewis said. "We weren't sure how people would react after with the COVID pandemic. We found that people just wanted to get back into the holiday spirit."
Before they opened this year, Lewis said they were getting a large number of requests for trees before they opened.
"There were many more wanting to get the 8-foot trees this year," Lewis said. "We still have people wanting 12-foot trees, so we get about 10-12 of those for those specifically wanting them. They're much more expensive because they are bigger."
All money raised by the sale of the trees goes back to children of the community. The Optimist Club's motto is "Friend of the Youth."
Each year, the club, founded in 1946, gives money and time to a variety of youth projects across the city, including Special Olympics Missouri, Boys and Girls State, the Boys & Girls Club of Jefferson City and the Jefferson City High School Baseball Booster Club.
This year, the group also has a Magic Tree on the lot with 24,000 lights on it. The tree, which Optimist Club members lit Saturday evening, is not so much about money making as it is a community service project, Lewis said.
"We want it set up for people to get a picture by it, just like in Columbia," Lewis said. "Hopefully people from across the area can come by and enjoy it."