Summary
Craftsbury features Pete Hinman of Craftsbury Christmas Tree Farm during his twentieth season operating a small-scale tree farm, following the transformation that both the farm and Pete’s life undergo before, during, and after the peak Christmas tree season. The film will focus on the history of Pete’s ownership of Craftsbury Tree Farm, and raise questions of what will become of it as he gets older. The overarching theme of a family tree will intersect with the stories of the trees on Pete’s land. Treatment
A handsaw is working its way through the trunk of a pine. The sawing is inconsistent, sometimes fast, sometimes with long pauses. The labored breathing of a man is in the background. Through the low branches of the tree, bits of the man’s face are visible. He takes note that he is almost through the trunk and begins to pick up speed. The tree begins to move back and forth, creaking and cracking. Finally, the sawing stops and Pete, the man who had been under the tree, forces the tree over with a push. He is older, perhaps in his early sixties and it is clear from his limp arms and the sweat on his brow that this ordeal has exhausted him. Along come the tree’s new owners who help pick up the tree and carry to an awaiting carrack. Once out of earshot, Pete lets out a sigh and says to himself that he’s getting too old for this. The calendar says the day after Thanksgiving is still a week away, but to a Christmas tree farmer, the last week of November is a mad rush to get the farm into shape for the December season. …show more content…
Walking around Craftsbury Christmas Tree Farm, Pete collects junk, pulls weeds and cuts back some of “the jungle” that surrounds the trees. Pete explains that the farm wasn’t open last year because there were not enough big trees to sell. This is the twentieth season of the farm and he is thankful he is able to open for such a milestone. The farm is quaint, only two acres, two and half if you count the parking lot, as Pete likes to say. Pete takes time caring to his trees, sometimes stopping to pull even a small piece of hay from a branch (although sometimes entirely missing birds’ nests on the tree’s opposite side). This is just a hobby for Pete, he is insistent upon that, but it is a hobby in which takes much joy and pride. He took over the farm from his cousins twenty years ago when they no longer needed it for their metal box company. With the help of his dad during the first few seasons Pete was able to transform the land from field to farm. At this time of day, only an hour or two after the sun has rose, the farm has a meditative quality. The sound of the school buses that drive by, transporting children to the middle and high school down the road, harmonize with the sound of Pete’s boots crunching on the frosted grass. Once in awhile, Pete takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with the pine-scented air, holding it in, taking all he can from it, then exhaling a visible cloud of air into the bitter morning air. One day to go. Pete drives away from his house, his wife Marge is seen washing dishes through the bay window above the sink in the kitchen. Pete is almost giddy with excitement as he drives to the farm. Today is the day he sets up the Teepee, the farm’s equivalent to an open sign. Pete struggles with the Teepee, this is a different one than the one he had inherited from his cousins. No, this one is much more complicated. Still, Pete doesn’t get frustrated; rather he chuckles at his inability to find the Teepee’s center. This project would be easier with a second person, but at this point the farm is still just Pete. His son has just bought a house in Higganum and Pete has expressed hope his son would carry it on after Pete is unable to do the hard labor the job requires. Pete doesn’t often express this desire to his son, or to anyone, after all it is his hobby, not his son’s and he fears
Craftsbury features Pete Hinman of Craftsbury Christmas Tree Farm during his twentieth season operating a small-scale tree farm, following the transformation that both the farm and Pete’s life undergo before, during, and after the peak Christmas tree season. The film will focus on the history of Pete’s ownership of Craftsbury Tree Farm, and raise questions of what will become of it as he gets older. The overarching theme of a family tree will intersect with the stories of the trees on Pete’s land. Treatment
A handsaw is working its way through the trunk of a pine. The sawing is inconsistent, sometimes fast, sometimes with long pauses. The labored breathing of a man is in the background. Through the low branches of the tree, bits of the man’s face are visible. He takes note that he is almost through the trunk and begins to pick up speed. The tree begins to move back and forth, creaking and cracking. Finally, the sawing stops and Pete, the man who had been under the tree, forces the tree over with a push. He is older, perhaps in his early sixties and it is clear from his limp arms and the sweat on his brow that this ordeal has exhausted him. Along come the tree’s new owners who help pick up the tree and carry to an awaiting carrack. Once out of earshot, Pete lets out a sigh and says to himself that he’s getting too old for this. The calendar says the day after Thanksgiving is still a week away, but to a Christmas tree farmer, the last week of November is a mad rush to get the farm into shape for the December season. …show more content…
Walking around Craftsbury Christmas Tree Farm, Pete collects junk, pulls weeds and cuts back some of “the jungle” that surrounds the trees. Pete explains that the farm wasn’t open last year because there were not enough big trees to sell. This is the twentieth season of the farm and he is thankful he is able to open for such a milestone. The farm is quaint, only two acres, two and half if you count the parking lot, as Pete likes to say. Pete takes time caring to his trees, sometimes stopping to pull even a small piece of hay from a branch (although sometimes entirely missing birds’ nests on the tree’s opposite side). This is just a hobby for Pete, he is insistent upon that, but it is a hobby in which takes much joy and pride. He took over the farm from his cousins twenty years ago when they no longer needed it for their metal box company. With the help of his dad during the first few seasons Pete was able to transform the land from field to farm. At this time of day, only an hour or two after the sun has rose, the farm has a meditative quality. The sound of the school buses that drive by, transporting children to the middle and high school down the road, harmonize with the sound of Pete’s boots crunching on the frosted grass. Once in awhile, Pete takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with the pine-scented air, holding it in, taking all he can from it, then exhaling a visible cloud of air into the bitter morning air. One day to go. Pete drives away from his house, his wife Marge is seen washing dishes through the bay window above the sink in the kitchen. Pete is almost giddy with excitement as he drives to the farm. Today is the day he sets up the Teepee, the farm’s equivalent to an open sign. Pete struggles with the Teepee, this is a different one than the one he had inherited from his cousins. No, this one is much more complicated. Still, Pete doesn’t get frustrated; rather he chuckles at his inability to find the Teepee’s center. This project would be easier with a second person, but at this point the farm is still just Pete. His son has just bought a house in Higganum and Pete has expressed hope his son would carry it on after Pete is unable to do the hard labor the job requires. Pete doesn’t often express this desire to his son, or to anyone, after all it is his hobby, not his son’s and he fears