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WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2008 – A Christmas tree farm in Whitehouse, Ohio, is celebrating the holiday season by giving away 100 Christmas trees to military families. “We've been giving trees to military families since the war started,” Duke Wheeler, owner of Whitehouse Christmas Tree Farm, said. “We feel it's important to let these families know that we appreciate their sacrifices. … We're grateful for all that they do.” The tree farm is giving away 7-foot Christmas trees through Dec. 20 to military families who have a servicemember overseas or a servicemember who recently returned from duty. Family members can cut...

A Muslim lawyer has launched an extraordinary rant against Christmas, branding the celebration 'evil'. Hate preacher Anjem Choudary claimed the festival was the 'pathway to hell' and urged his followers to boycott it. 'In the world today many Muslims, especially those residing in Western countries, are exposed to the evil celebration Christmas,' he raged in a sermon broadcast on the internet. 'Many take part in the festival celebrations by having Christmas turkey dinners. 'Decorating the house, purchasing Christmas trees or having Christmas turkey meals are completely prohibited by Allah. 'Many still practise this corrupt celebration as a remembrance of the...

Christmas trees that have graced the two main libraries at the University of North Carolina won't be displayed this year, after numerous complaints, The Charlotte Observer reported. The trees have stood in the lobbies of Wilson and Davis libraries at the Chapel Hill campus during December. This year, they are being kept in storage. Sarah Michalak, the associate provost for university libraries, told the newspaper that she made the decision after several years of complaints from employees and others. “We strive in our collection to have a wide variety of ideas,” she said. “It doesn't seem right to celebrate one...

$50,000 REWARD IN DEATHS OF TREE FARMER, 2 OTHERSRobbery may be motive in slayings Authorities describe how shootings occurred Associated Press INDEPENDENCE, Va. --The family of a prominent North Carolina tree farmer has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for his slaying, as well as that of his son and an employee. Authorities said robbery was the apparent motive in the shooting deaths Thursday of Ronald Hudler, 75, his son Frederick Hudler, 45, and an employee, 25-year-old John Miller. The three were slain on Ronald Hudler's property in Mouth of Wilson, Va., just...

CINCINNATI -- A grand jury indicted three people in connection with the armed robbery last month of Boy Scouts at a Christmas tree sale. Prosecutors said Friday that Kenneth Hodge, 19, David Keeling, 19, and Nashon Wallace, 20, would face charges in the Dec. 3 robbery outside Tom’s Drive-Thru in North College Hill. The Boy Scouts, ages 13 and 11 years old, said they were selling Christmas trees in the parking lot along West Galbraith Road shortly before closing when three men approached, with one carrying a sawed-off shotgun. The boys said they thought the men were joking until one...

When it came time to decide what to do with his family's Christmas tree farm in Monroe Township, Thomas Allen didn't have a lot of options. His grown children had no interest in the business, and Allen couldn't work the land while holding down his full-time job supervising town recreation. The farm in Middlesex County, where Christmas trees have been sold for 40 years, didn't generate enough profit to provide his sole income. So Allen did what so many farmers in New Jersey before him have done. He sold his land to developers. As farmers like Allen leave the cut-your-own...

TOKYO - Warren Nobuaki Iwatake's family has seen more than its share of calamity. When he was still a child his father was lost at sea off Hawaii. With no breadwinner, his family was forced to move to Japan, where Iwatake was drafted during the war. He lost a brother when the bomb fell on Hiroshima. But through it all one thing has remained constant. The tree. His parents bought it in 1937, and his family has brought it out every Christmas since, without fail, even when that meant risking arrest. "This tree was a shining light, because it was...

Potted dwarf Christmas trees are gaining in popularity. They range from 18 to 54 inches tall and sell from $14.99 to $80. Customers like them because they're a lot smaller and easier to handle. Dwarf pines, cypresses and spruces grown in pots for the holiday are certainly smaller and lighter than live trees whose roots are balled and covered with burlap. Owners are supposed to plant them outside after Christmas, but often they get tossed. But even if they're planted, they're not sure to thrive. People can do a poor job of taking care of them. The trees also might...

LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A Christmas mystery is unfolding in the New Jersey Pinelands, right along the shoulders of the Garden State Parkway. For the past few weeks, someone has been adorning two large pine trees next to the southbound lanes of the highway with Christmas ornaments. It started before Thanksgiving at mile marker 58.2 with two glass ornaments, with a shiny red ball about the size of a cantaloupe, and a smaller oblong red ornament with swirly gold glitter running from top to bottom. They were tied to branches by long strands of white cord, so that...

Third Brigade Combat Team Soldiers waved Chemlights while singing Christmas carols during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Dec. 8, at Forward Operating Base Hammer. Photo by Spc. Ben Hutto, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Soldiers of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team (HBCT) attended a Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Dec. 8, at Forward Operating Base Hammer to welcome a Christmas season spent with their Army family. “I enjoyed the ceremony. It was very motivating and very uplifting,” said Staff. Sgt. Derrick Mears, from Richmond, Va., a communications non-commissioned officer in Headquarters...

Deck the Parkway? Someone is hanging Christmas ornaments with care, not by the chimney but on trees along the Garden State Parkway. It started before Thanksgiving with two glass ornaments a shiny red ball about the size of a cantaloupe and a smaller red oblong with gold glitter swirls tied to branches of two large pines. They were easily visible to motorists blasting down the southbound lanes on a stretch of highway in the Pinelands where there are no nearby houses. Then more decorations popped up. One week it was a glitter-enhanced green ball the same size as the original...

An early skirmish in this year's "War on Christmas" ended on Tuesday when the nationwide home improvement chain Lowe's apologized for referring to Christmas trees in its holiday catalog as "family trees." "That was a complete error," Maureen Rich, a spokeswoman for Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse - which serves more than 13 million customers a week in its 1,400 stores across the nation - told Cybercast News Service. "Right now, we're extremely disappointed in this breakdown in our own creative process. "We are apologizing to customers today for any confusion our holiday catalog created," Rich said. She explained that the...

Liberty Counsel targets K-Mart, Sears for refusing to use 'Christmas' in ads Allie Martin OneNewsNow.com December 7, 2007 A Christian law firm is targeting two retail giants after they offended Christians with their advertising. Officials at Liberty Counsel say K-Mart and Sears have renamed "Christmas trees" to "holiday trees" in their advertising. According to Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, a ministry supporter asked K-Mart why it took the action. "A representative from Sears Holding Corporation, which owns K-Mart as well, wrote back and said that Sears is a diverse company and it did not want to offend any of its...

Bah humbug to puny Christmas tree BY NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON nia.henderson@newsday.com 7:36 PM EST, December 5, 2007 Apparently, when it comes to holiday symbols, size does matter. At least it did to some folks in Long Beach, who were none too happy with the elfin Christmas tree planted next to a 20-foot-high menorah at Kennedy Plaza infront of City Hall. They called, they sent letters, they testified at a public hearing at City Hall. Long Beach resident Rick Hoffman put it this way: "What's up with the giant menorah and the Charlie Brown Christmas tree?" he asked. "We wish it would...

SIERRA VISTA — Ron and Joanne Wagner were guests of honor during a special celebration at Sierra Vista Middle School on Monday. The Wagners, who had purchased a Christmas tree that had been donated to the Festival of Trees by the middle school, gave the tree back to the school for students and staff to enjoy. This marked the fourth year the Wagners purchased a tree at the Festival and returned it to the school that donated it. All the ornaments on the tree were hand made by special education students. Now on display in the school library, the tree...

(LONGMONT) — For anybody selling artificial trees, it’s a merrier Christmas every year. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, 9.3 million American households bought a manufactured tree last year. That’s up from 7.3 million in 2001. And while real trees still have a three-to-one edge in sales, the long life of an artificial tree means that plastic is slowly crowding its way into the center of the Christmas card. Five years ago, a nation-wide study found that 60 percent of the homes that put up a tree chose to go artificial. “People will lie to you, but artificial trees...

Missouri State University is once again featuring a Christmas tree in strong hall. The tree was put up the day before thanksgiving, but then taken down on Monday. School officials say they did it because there was a need for discussion regarding holiday symbols. Everyone we talked to on campus today said putting the tree back up was the right decision. But, this story is about more than just a Christmas tree. Celebrating Christmas with a tree was not the beginning of concern surrounding religion at Missouri State. "Issues have been raised over the years and this was probably the...

Missouri State University has reversed a decision to take down a 20-foot Christmas tree and will instead reinstall it along with symbols from other religions, the university said today. The tree had been removed from Strong Hall on the university’s campus on Monday, after a Jewish faculty member complained that it showed a “lack of sensitivity” to other religions. But the tree will be reinstalled along with symbols from other religions... “We decided this is the right thing to do, and I am glad there was widespread agreement about it,” Missouri State President Michael Nietzel said in a statement. The...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Missouri State University has reversed a decision to take down a 20-foot Christmas tree and will instead reinstall it along with symbols from other religions. The tree had been removed from Strong Hall on the university's campus on Monday, after a Jewish faculty member complained that it showed a “lack of sensitivity” to other religions. But university officials now say the tree will be reinstalled along with a menorah and an "educational display of holiday traditions." Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, who had said he was "deeply troubled" by the Christmas tree's removal, praised the reversal of...

Napolitano pulls Christmas from AZ 'Holiday Tree' By Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.29.2007 PHOENIX — What do you call the big green thing decked with colored lights, balls and doves in the lobby of state Capitol tower? Well, if you're the governor, you don't call it a Christmas tree. Instead, Janet Napolitano proclaimed it the "Holiday Tree." The governor formally lit the decoration this week in a ceremony. She also used the opportunity to promote "Hope for the Holidays," a special program to provide gifts to the children of parents who are incarcerated. So what...