If your family is looking for a bit of an adventure while choosing the right tree this year, Bourdet’s Choose & Cut lot outside of Hollister offers plenty of fun to go with the process of finding the right noble fir or silver tip variety.
“It’s just rocking and rolling here on the weekend,” said co-owner Tina Bourdet, on a calm Tuesday following the early-week storms.
Bourdet helped a couple pick a particular silver tip from the lot before explaining that the fantasy forest-like touch of the venue was on a hold a bit Tuesday due to the rains – as many of the white-flocked trees were temporarily put away under covers to avoid softening from the weather. It gave her some time to show off the grounds, an evolution of around three decades for the Bourdet family, with the past 10 years at their 1271 Los Viboras Road location.
While another lot in Hollister incidentally shares a similar address with Bourdet’s – Barone’s Christmas Trees is located at 1271 Hillcrest Road – one is a bit more functional than the other, both in layout and geography. At Bourdet’s, a narrow country road – flanked on the sides by cartoonish characters welcoming visitors – leads to the large parking lot and the main entrance to the main attractions. Bourdet noted that on weekends – it’s open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. – some of the features include a tractor-pulled sleigh ride fitting 20 people, a nature walk, a playground and a pet land run by the Future Farmers of America. Bourdet’s lot also gets some help from the Lion’s Club, which serves food on weekends, while there are periodic “old-fashioned” Christmas carols and Santa as well from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., she said.
As for the primary attraction – choosing a tree – customers can either cut it down themselves or pick from a variety of Oregon-grown choices.
“Families with young kids love the experience of cutting it down,” she said.
