Medical Lake Christmas tree farm harvests tradition as well as memories

By RYAN LANCASTER

Staff Reporter

With his smiling eyes and cropped white beard, Wiley Kenreck probably brings visions of a lean St. Nick to the minds of Christmas-conscious youngsters.

Especially once they see the bright red sleigh in his barn.

Kenreck and his wife Cheryl own Sunwest Farms U-Cut, a Christmas tree farm they first planted 30 years ago on their property just south of Brooks Road in Medical Lake. That first year Kenreck learned the trade by helping a neighbor with his 20,000-tree farm next door.

The neighbor got out of the business soon after and sold a portion of the farm to Kenreck, who planted about 10,000 seedlings and has continued to turn out tannenbaums ever since.

Kenreck, now in his 70s, was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base and decided to stay in the area after retiring from the military rather than go back to his native North Dakota. “North Dakota was pretty bleak,” he said. “I told my wife if we ever left there I was going to grow trees because there sure weren't any trees there.”

Over the years Sunwest Farms has evolved into more than a place to simply hunt for a tree. Hot cocoa flows freely, outdoor speakers broadcast holiday music through the grove and an iron sleigh said to be more than 150 years old sits waiting for photo opps. Kenreck even offers rides around the property on a bobsled pulled by an ancient tractor named Randolph.

Kenreck, whose main business is antique clock-repair, said the tree upkeep, seasonal replanting and property maintenance involved in his “side-hobby” can sometimes be overwhelming. “It's a lot of work for one guy; sort of eats up your weekends and evenings,” he said.

There are dozens of tree varieties on the farm with names like Grand Fir, Scots Pine and Concolor fir, which Kenreck said “smells like a tangerine” when it's cut down. Each spring he sows 2-year-old transplants, which stay small until around the fourth year when they “bolt,” and start growing more quickly, reaching a marketable size a few years later.

Kenreck said he sold his first timber of the season two weeks ago and will continue to sell a few after Christmas. “It might be an early bird or somebody that wants to do it before they have to go overseas; Fairchild families come anytime.”

For the past few years Kenreck has cut back on replanting and now has about 2,000 trees in the ground, although he said he plans to replenish the numbers next season. He doesn't expect to sell more than 100 trees this year because the majority falls outside of the size range most people prefer, although he's been surprised in the past.

“People will cut trees that I'll think will never sell, you can never tell,” he said. “Some people like those Charley Brown trees.”

When asked for his thoughts on the longstanding debate between fresh and artificial trees, Kenreck said while both forms have their merits he's confident that as long as people can buy them, some will always prefer the real thing. His beef isn't with the artificial industry, but with pre-cut tree lots that sell merchandise that's been sitting in a warehouse for months on end.

When a “bone-dry” tree sheds needles on someone's carpet it gives fresh trees a bad name, Kenreck said.

“If you buy one fresh you're not going to lose any needles once you bounce the dead ones out,” he said. “You couldn't burn one of these trees next June.”

Kenreck said his regular customers, some of whom have been coming to the farm for nearly 30 years, seem to understand that a tree is much more than a seasonal ornament. “These are the people who like to do the whole Christmas thing. They come out here and ride the sleigh, I give them candy canes, I have two gallons of hot chocolate ready and a fire in the back. Sometimes I think the tree itself is secondary.”

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].