2013 Christmas Newsletter

4661 Yale Bridge Rd • Rockton, IL 61072 • 815-624-7579 • 800-423-6635 •
www.williamstreefarm.com
Dear Santa, Mrs. Claus, Elves, and Reindeer,
We are hoping that you are just as excited as we are for the upcoming
Christmas Season.
We really appreciate the little sled that you loaned us, with the
“Elves Gone Wild” written on the back, along with the crew of elves you sent down.
I am sure when that little sled was at the North Pole, it was used for a little
mischief, as elves seem to be drawn to making merry!
We recently caught a group of elves swinging from
the camp climbing wall. The elves that are helping really
are “Elves Gone Wild”.
They are hanging from the rafters,
swinging from the lights, peeking over the Candy Corner,
on the roof of the new Coffee Corner, on the pay huts....
I know they are magical, but boy they are everywhere.
They love to play in the Blizzard, which makes them
“dizzier” than normal. We could not get ready with
out them though. The elves have been decorating up
the gift shop, brushing out the ponies, playing on the
Kiddy Train, hanging the roping and wreaths, taste
testing the fudge, sipping hot chocolate, hanging candy
decorations. There is a lot to do to get ready.
The elves have been stocking the wood for a warm toasty
fire, polishing the horse harnesses, making a great place for
you to sit Santa, when you visit. They have been hanging
signs and lights, playing with reindeer. I wish they had
magic corn so we cold see our reindeer fly. Santa, we are so
excited for your visit and hope everything is going amazingly
well at the North Pole.
Thanks!!!
We will see you soon!!!
WE BELIEVE,
The Williams Family and Crew
CATCH THE WONDERFUL SPIRIT OF THE SEASON AT WILLIAMS TREE FARM!
We now have a wallaby, (think
tiny kangaroo) that we have added
to the family. We bottle fed her and
carried her in a pouch for much of
the spring and summer. We named
her Roo, from Winnie the Pooh
and she is so much fun. She has
a home in the Children’s Farm,
but she still likes to be carried,
so you might see a Roo Wrangler,
with a pouch holding Roo so that
you can meet her up close. A new
golden puppy has joined us, we
are excited for you to meet her.
All our animals love company,
especially young children and are anxiously waiting for your
visit. Amos the camel loves throwing his ball, tossing his tire, he
loves to entertain people, he will love to ham it up for you. With
a couple of puppy litters coming this year, it is going to be a great
time for hanging out with the “critters” at the farm.
Roo Wrangling and
Critter Company
Joy to the World
the Savior Comes….
Christmas time is a time of joyous
memories, snow softly falling through
the trees, the merry twinkle of lights,
the wonderful smell of pine boughs, the
laughter of children and the jingle of bells.
We savor each memory.
Every year we celebrate old traditions
and make new ones. Hanging stockings,
unwrapping priceless handmade ornaments,
the peace that envelopes us as we listen
to Christmas carols. The simple joy of a
seeing a toddler’s mittened hand grasping
a sticky yummy candy cane. Watching old
Christmas movies, baking, wrapping, secrets
whispered in hushed voices. Watching the
awe of a toddler when he or she first gets to
sit on Santa’s knee. The hush of a candle lit
Christmas eve service. With all the negativity
in the world we choose joy!!!!
Some years it is kind of fun to go over
the top and this is one of those years. So we
are excited about all the opportunities to
choose joy. Eli is busy making tons and tons
of signs, working on picture collages, and
making props.
Linda, Jeanne, Kelli, Lisa, Kimmy, Tay and
all are brainstorming new display ideas, new
layouts, new shirts and gifts, all of it is just
fun!!!!! We are so grateful that you make us a
part of your Christmas traditions.
We have new displays with Elves, a
House of Whimsy in the gift shop that you
just have to see, and many more fun things
to explore. We hope that you will join us
this year in choosing Joy. To borrow a line
from Garfield’s Christmas “Christmas: it’s
not the giving, it’s not the getting, it’s the
loving”. For to us a child is born, to us a son
is given... And he will be called Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 Merry Christmas!
“Seasons of Love”
Lyrics from the song in the play Rent by Jonathan Larson
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand, Moments so dear
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure - Measure A Year?
In Daylights - In Sunsets, In Midnights - In Cups Of Coffee
In Inches - In Miles, In Laughter - In Strife
Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes
How Do You Measure A Year In The Life?
How About Love? How About Love? How About Love?
Measure In Love
Seasons of Love. Seasons of Love……
It’s Time Now - To Sing Out Though The Story Never Ends
Let’s Celebrate Remember A Year In The Life Of Friends
Remember the Love Remember the Love
Remember the Love Measure In Love
Oh you got to, you got to remember the love,
You know that love is a gift from up above
Share love, give love, spread love
Measure, measure your life in love. Seasons Of Love”
This song seemed fitting for this year, for all the ups and
downs that come with life. In December last year, we lost one of
our long term employee and dear friend, Bonnie. She had been a
huge part of the farm for 25 plus years. Words cannot express how
we miss her. She was so excited to become the grandmother of
Bentley Michael in September of last year. Her grandson looks just
like her and is a blessing to their family as they carry on.
We also were incredibly blessed to welcome two new grandchildren in the spring, Blake Jonathan was born to Josh and
Taylor Williams, and Reese Christine was born to Cory and Ashley
Williams, their birthdays are only three weeks apart. We anticipate
lots of fun ahead. More than ever this year has taught us to savor
each and every moment; our relationships, family, friends, ups
and downs. Measure your life with love…
We don’’t say WOW
lightly with so many changes this
year. We have a new road on the
south side of the Farm, which
I love, it drops you right in the
middle of a grove of beautiful Christmas trees. We remodeled
the Lodge to double the size of the Candy Corner, and redid
the area outside the office which allows us to finally offer
Williams Tree Farm apparel, t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, even
a vintage tee, we hope you will like them. In the same area,
Dandy Donuts will be here most weekends making delicious
donuts, with a $1 from each dozen sold going to Outdoor
Outreach and to a Honduras mission trip.
We will be offering new jams, lots of light up
ornaments, a new tractor on the south side, lots of fun
new things. We have been going a little wild getting new
to us vintage stuff to dress up the farm; windows, doors,
sleighs, old beams, and old chairs from my grandparents definitely antiques. We have taken some drums and spools
to make tables, pallets for signs and having a blast pulling it
all together. We hope that you enjoy all the improvements!
WOW!
Great Christmas Getaway
Give Away. The winner of last
years “Get Away Give Away” are Kathy
Helgeson, Rochelle, she won $400 worth
of travel vouchers out of the Rockford
Airport and a $200 gift card to Best
Western. Jennifer Hundley won a $200
gift card to Timber Ridge Resort,
Lake Geneva WI. Please don’t
forget to sign up again this year as
we continue the “Great Christmas
Get Away Give Away”.
Fast Forward
We are
excited to post something new
this year on our web site. We have
a quite a few photographers and
techy people that work for us, so we
thought it would be great fun to capture
the setting up of the lodge on film and
fast forward it on the web site, when we
are finished. It should be fun!! We will see
how it turns out! So watch the website;
williamstreefarm.com for Fast Forward.
Jack Pine Savage
You might ask, what is a Jack Pine
Savage? A Jack Pine Savage is someone
who wants to get out and do things,
run, walk, trot, amble, all for a good
cause. This past June we hosted our
first ever 5k run walk, and Tiny Timber
Trot with proceeds going to help fund
Outdoor Outreach Day Camp ( a free
day camp for at risk youth) that we
have put on for the past eleven summers. The run was a great success. The trail wound through the Farm, over two bridges, with
mud and water an option for those who wanted the challenge.
Thank you so much for all who participated. We learned a lot,
and we are already planning two more Jack Pine Savage events in
2014. April 27th will be our spring run, October 5th will be our
fall event. We had so much fun with our first run, we are looking
forward to adding to the excitement and hope you will join us and
support a good cause. Please visit our www.jackpinesavage.com
website or our facebook page.
Throwback Christmas
With your help, we are wanting to do
a throwback Christmas. We need old
Christmas photos from you and your
family. They don’t have to be from the
tree farm, but just the nostalgic scenes
from old celebrations. We are collecting
pictures from you and our employees to
put together in collages. If you are willing
to share, please email your pictures to
[email protected], or mail to
4661 Yale Bridge Rd, Rockton, IL 61072.
Please do not send your original pictures
as we are not planning on returning them.
We are excited to share all the old
memories and are so grateful for your
help and participation.
Honduras
In February of this past year we
were able to take a trip to Honduras for a week to
work under the direction of another missionary
who has been a past Williams Tree Farm customer.
We took a couple of the young men that work for
us, Matt Alba, Matthew and Dan Rohrer as well
as Don, Karen, Brad, Eli and little Terra Williams,
along with Eli’s sister Lisa Benitez. It was a great
trip. We were able to work in some remote areas
of Honduras, to be with the local children and
to make construction improvements at the local
churches. We were blessed to have water the
whole time we were visiting and are looking
forward to making another trip down this coming
January to do more construction work and to
hang out with some more children.
Walnut Crescents
A traditional Christmas cookie that my mother used to bake.
½ cup butter
2 cups flour
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup walnuts finely
1 tsp vanilla
chopped
Cream butter, work in sugar until well blended. Add
nuts, flour. Place in refrigerator for one hour. Shape
dough into small crescents and place on ungreased
cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, while still
warm roll in powdered sugar to form a coating. Enjoy!
4661 Yale Bridge Rd
Rockton, IL 61072
815-624-7579 • 800-423-6635
PRESORT STANDARD
U.S. POSTAGE
www.williamstreefarm.com
Open for the Season
November 16th
~ OPEN DAILY 8 AM - 8 PM ~
OPEN THANKSGIVING DAY
8:00 am - 4:00 pm*
PAID
ROCKFORD, IL
PERMIT NO. 858
A thankful heart
is a happy HEART
“In all things give thanks” 1Thes 5:18
Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas!
*No Cafe on Thanksgiving
CABIN CAFE
Weekdays 10 am - 7 pm
Weekends 8 am - 7:30 pm
(Weekend hours only prior to Thanksgiving)
HORSES
Weekdays Noon - 4:30 pm
Weekends 8 am - 4:30 pm
SANTA VISITS
Nov. 29th, & 30th
Dec. 1st, 7th, 8th, 14th & 15th
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Pony And Train Rides Most Weekends
Creating Holiday Memories
for Over 60 Years!
FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED
Gift Shop • Cabin Café • Candy Corner
Fudge • Maze • Horse-drawn Hayrides
Cut Your Own Christmas Trees
Pre-selected Trees • Wreaths
Pony Rides, and Santa Visits on Weekends
• Kiddie Train • Reindeer • Camel
Night Time Cut Your Own
OPEN DAILY: 8 AM TO 8 PM
Shop Early, before Thanksgiving and receive a
FREE Williams Tree Farm Ornament
with your purchase of $35.00 or more,
limit one per family please.
Best Selection for 2013
The trees are beautiful this year and ready to be
part of your Christmas celebration. Here is the
scoop to find your perfect tree. If you want a
7+ foot fir, please go to the south side of the Tree
Farm. If you are looking for a pine please stay on
the north side of The Farm where the buildings are.
Once again this year, we will be offering free hot
chocolate on the weekends on the south side
and don’t forget to check out the new road.
Visit us at williamstreefarm.com for
our calendar of special events
4661 YALE BRIDGE RD. • ROCKTON, IL 61072
1-800-423-NOEL
WWW.WILLIAMSTREEFARM.COM
~DECEMBER 6, 7 & 8, 2013~