Rocks Estate Traditions & Trees for Troops

At The Rocks Estate, we endeavor to share the joy of the holidays with our customers. So we’re always happy to see folks return to The Rocks year after year to select a farm fresh Christmas tree, enjoy a horse-drawn wagon ride, browse our shops, sip some cocoa, and roast a marshmallow or two. For many of you, visiting The Rocks has become a holiday tradition, and we’d love to hear your stories.

If you’d like to share how The Rocks fits into your holiday season, please email your story to info@therocks.org.

One of our holiday traditions at The Rocks is supporting the national Trees for Troops program. Founded in 2005, Trees for Troops provides free, farm-grown Christmas trees to military personnel and their families serving both in the United States and overseas. Last year, Trees for Troops delivered more than 19,000 trees, and since 2005, the program has provided more than 103,000 real Christmas trees to members of our armed forces.

Trees for Troops is a program of the National Christmas Tree Association’s Christmas SPIRIT Foundation. Trees are provided to the program through donations by Christmas tree farmers and their customers. FedEx provides free shipping for the program.

The Rocks has wholeheartedly supported the Trees for Troops effort for years. Rocks Estate manager Nigel Manley is chairman of the national program, and in that role visited the White House when Trees for Troops was named a national finalist in the Joining Forces Community Challenge, an initiative started by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to recognize organizations that provide service and support to military families.

Trees for Troops has also become a community effort, with the 5^th grade class from Bethlehem Elementary School spending a morning each December loading some 400 donated trees from New Hampshire and Vermont onto a FedEx truck at the farm. The students tag each tree with notes of thanks to the service men and women who will receive them.

It is often said that Christmas is about giving. Participating in Trees for Troops is our way at The Rocks of sharing a bit of the holiday spirit with the folks who serve our country. If you’d like to support Trees for Troops, you may make a donation at The Rocks or through the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation.