A Douglas fir from Schuylkill County will deck the halls of the White House this holiday season.

It’s the second time that White House officials selected a tree from Paul and Pam Shealer’s Evergreen Acres Tree Farm in Auburn.

On Monday, Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Deputy Secretary Fred Strathmeyer Jr. joined White House Executive Usher Robert Downing and the National Christmas Tree Association at the farm.

Evergreen Farms won the 2020 Pa. Farm Show Christmas Tree competition and went on to become the 2022 grand champion at the National Christmas Tree Association’s National Tree and Wreath Contest.

“Pennsylvania growers produce one million of the nation’s most impressive Christmas trees every year,” Strathmeyer said. “We’re proud to showcase our finest growers at the Pa. Farm Show each January. We’re even prouder that a Shealer tree will represent our commonwealth and focus the eyes of the nation on a world-class Pennsylvania-grown product during the holidays.”

“We were thrilled to win grand champion and are even more excited that Evergreen Acres will provide the White House’s official Christmas tree,” said the senior Paul Shealer, who recently passed the business to his son Paul. “Evergreen Acres takes great pride in its trees every year, and it seems this year, as my son, Paul, and his wife, Pam, begin guiding the farm we can stand even taller.”

The first time an Evergreen Acres tree was selected for the White House was in 2000 under the Clinton administration.

With more than 1,400 Christmas tree farms across the state, Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation. The tree farms cover nearly 31,000 acres and produce about one million cut trees each year.

With $1.9 million in sales, Schuylkill County ranked fourth in the state among 64 counties with tree farms and 25th in the U.S.