A lot of Christmas experiences are based on traditions; memories made as children and making new memories with families now.

Perhaps the most notable tradition of Christmas is the Christmas tree.

A visit to Yenser’s Tree Farm and Crystal Springs Tree Farm, both in the Mahoning Valley just west of Lehighton, showed that this tradition is alive and well.

Both farms opened on Black Friday and have welcomed hundreds of families who were in search of their perfect tree. Over the next few weekends, numerous car and trucks could be seen around town with trees tied to their roofs.

One big question, though, was did the drought earlier in the year affect the tree crop?

According to both tree farms, the answer is no.

“It hasn’t affected the mature trees at all,” said Ryan Wentz, one of the owners of Yenser’s Tree Farm. “Some of the seedling we planted in the spring did not survive; they didn’t have a chance to get enough of a root base, so they have to be replanted.”

Chris Botek, owner of Crystal Springs Tree Farm, said the same.

“We lost some of the young stuff, nothing major. In fact, too wet is worse than too dry. They rather like the drier side.”

Both farms offered the opportunity to go out into the fields and cut your own tree, or you can have someone cut it for you.

Yenser’s is now closed for the season, with its last day this past Sunday, while Crystal Springs is still welcoming customers.

Casey and Ashley Snyder of Walnutport, and their children Cole and Kailey, were at Yenser’s, getting ready to go out looking for their perfect tree.

“We have been coming here about five years now,” Casey said. “We usually prefer the lives trees.”

The memories and traditions are not just about the tree itself; the trip to get the tree is as much fun as is decorating the tree at home.

Blake and Isabelle Wessic, along with their children Crider, Palmer and Forest, watched as the staff at Crystal Springs Farms pushed their tree through a bailer machine that tied it in a net to make it easier for transport.

Crystal Springs had two such machines to prepare the trees, plus a drill to drill a hole in the bottom of the trunk to set on the tree stand when they put the tree up at home.

At Yenser’s, three generations of the Berich family from Palmerton — Scott and Susan Berich, their daughter Brittany (Berich) Heritage, and the grandchildren, Lyla and Lainey — searched the fields for their tree.

“It’s a concolor, and that’s what I like,” Scott Berich explained about they tree they chose. “It smells like oranges. They keep their needles, and they have strong branches, so you can put heavier things on them. We come here every year. We’ve been coming here the past 25 or 30 years.”

In addition to the trees, both farms make their own wreathes, garland, swags, log boxes and grave blankets.