A slight change of scenery and a strange year haven't stopped one Jefferson City Christmas tradition from taking place.
No one is quite sure how long the Jefferson City Optimist Club had been selling Christmas trees from the corner of Dunklin and Broadway streets in front of the Carpenter's Building, although club member Ralph Biele said they think it was close to 70 years.
This year, the tree lot has jumped across the street over to the grassy area next to Hawthorn Bank.
Biele said the club was a bit sad to lose the legacy of their previous spot, but the new location does allow the tree lot to spread out more in the larger space.
"Maybe they'll do it another 60-some years over here," Biele said.
Biele typically orders about 575 trees but was shorted this year and got only about 510.
The lot sells Balsam firs from Michigan and Scotch pines from Nova Scotia, Canada, along with the popular Fraser firs, grown in North Carolina and Michigan.
"The Fraser firs are hard to get," Biele said. "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. We're paying for that now."
The live tree business is booming now, Biele said, especially this year.
"I don't know if it's because people have been cooped up, and it's Christmas time and they say, 'We're going to have a real Christmas,'" Biele said.
The lot opened the Friday after Thanksgiving, and Biele said they already had a busy opening weekend, selling half as many trees as they sold in the entire 2019 season.
They sold almost 200 of the Fraser firs over the weekend, he said. The firs are popular for their stronger scent, while Scotch pines may be preferred for their thicker branches and needles.
Unlike most sales, extra inventory can't exactly be ordered quickly when things start to sell out. So the lot closes when the trees are gone.
"You can't just call Nova Scotia and say, 'Send me 30 more trees,'" Biele said. "When I buy trees, I have to pretty well make up my mind what I want, because that's it."
Tree prices vary by height and type. Smaller trees are available for $30, with prices increasing from there.
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."
"With the different things we do, we've probably put somewhere between $16,000-$20,000 into this community," Biele said.
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.
The boys of the JCHS baseball team help the club on the first day of the tree lot to drill holes in the trunks and get it all set up, something Biele said the club - made up of mostly individuals 65 years or older - is grateful for when it comes to lugging around the heavy trees.
Volunteers at the lot trim the tree trunks, wrap the trees and load them into vehicles for customers.
The Optimist Club tree lot will be open until they run out of trees, typically around mid-December. The lot is open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. during the week, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays.
Biele said the possibility of not hosting the tree lot due to the coronavirus pandemic was always in the back of his mind, but he feels they made the right adjustments to stay open.
The trees on display and the tent for payments are set up to maintain social distancing, and all volunteers will wear masks.