By Don Cipollini
Evergreen trees have long been associated with winter celebrations because they are beacons of growth, resilience and everlasting life during the bleakest times of the year.
Likely originating in pagan tradition, evergreen conifers were adopted as a symbol of Christmas in north-central Europe. Originally, live trees were decorated in place outside during holiday seasons, but it was Germans and their neighbors living in the late 1400s and early 1500s who decided that decorated Christmas trees would also look good inside houses and other buildings.
Accordingly, the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree in the United States was popularized in the late 1700s and early 1800s by German immigrants. Those first Christmas trees were mostly harvested from wild populations of pines, spruces and firs and brought inside to be decorated. Growing interest in this tradition as the nation expanded led to a need for more trees than were widely available.
Growing Christmas trees as a cash crop in the United States began in the early 1900s in western Pennsylvania. Some of the first Christmas tree plantations were started in Indiana County — the county where I grew up — in 1918. It was there that the cultivation of Christmas trees as we know it was first tried and perfected and innovations such as shearing trees to develop better form and baling trees for ease of shipment were introduced.
By 1956, 700,000 trees were cut in Indiana County, earning it the moniker “Christmas Tree Capital of the World.” I remember a billboard proudly proclaiming this honor along a highway leading to one of the larger producers in the county. It was one of our main claims to fame, along with being the birthplace of actor Jimmy Stewart and writer Edward Abbey. Christmas tree sales would surpass one million by 1960, and many plantations, both large and small, popped up on converted farmland throughout the county and the state as landowners sought to cash in on the gold rush.
Even Taylor Swift spent some of her childhood on a Christmas tree farm in eastern Pennsylvania, immortalizing her experiences in the 2019 song “Christmas Tree Farm.” Many of my friends had summer jobs at Christmas tree nurseries, shearing trees using large machete-like pruning knives that they swung all day in the baking sun. It was a good-paying summer job but backbreaking, and many workers did not stick with it for long. Our beloved local School Forest in Glen Helen was established in 1948, and many an alumnus could attest to the work required to grow and maintain Christmas trees even on a small scale.
Christmas tree production continued to grow in Pennsylvania for a time but eventually leveled off and then declined as technological expertise spread around the country. By the early 1990s, many of those fly-by-night operations established in the 1950s and 1960s were long abandoned. Once six-foot-tall Christmas trees were left to grow into large trees resembling those in the Pine Forest in Glen Helen, which was planted in 1926.
As of 2022, Pennsylvania still ranked fourth in production, with a little more than one million trees cut each year — roughly the total from Indiana County alone in 1960. The leaders were Oregon and North Carolina, cutting more than four million trees each. Michigan ranked third with about 1.5 million trees cut, and Ohio ranked 10th with about 160,000. Some states have risen to prominence while others have fallen, as consumer preferences have shifted and climate change has led to the loss of some previously suitable habitats for optimal Christmas tree growth.
The conifer species grown and sold as Christmas trees have varied over the years, from Scots, Virginia and white pines to white and blue spruces, but the current leading sellers are firs. This is no surprise, as these trees have deep bluish-green soft needles, retain their needles well after being cut and have a wonderful aroma. Firs grow best in the cool climates of northern states such as Oregon and Michigan or at higher elevations in southern states such as North Carolina, helping to explain the leadership of these states in Christmas tree sales.
The current pick of the litter is Fraser fir, and some sellers of live trees, such as big-box stores, offer only this species. Ironically, while grown and sold widely as a Christmas tree, Fraser fir is endangered in its native high-elevation habitats in the southern Appalachian Mountains, existing in only 38 small populations across a few states. It shares this feature with the ginkgo tree, which is endangered — if not extinct — in its native habitats in China but planted widely as a hardy ornamental tree.
The cultivation of Christmas trees is an important component of the green industry, with many environmental benefits over traditional row-crop agriculture. Its semi-naturalistic plantings harbor higher biodiversity than other kinds of cropland, and trees stabilize soil and sequester carbon better and longer than other crops.
But it comes with many of the same concerns as any cultivated crop. Like most crops, large-scale production depends on inputs — many petroleum-based — such as herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers and water, some of which may remain as residues on the tree.
Christmas trees are unlike most other tree crops in that they are brought indoors and handled extensively, where the risk of encountering those residues is higher. That risk can be reduced by thoroughly rinsing the needles and bark of the tree and letting it dry outside before bringing it indoors and decorating it.
There is also a carbon cost associated with growing and transporting trees. One way to make the living Christmas tree tradition greener is to buy organically grown trees. Organic production is possible, but as of now there are only about 50 organic Christmas tree farms in the United States.
Other options include buying local to reduce transportation costs and recycling trees as food and habitat for wildlife. Trees can also be mulched and used as compost, returning nutrients to the earth.
Even better is to buy a living Christmas tree that you plant outdoors each year after the holidays. Before you know it, you may have a Christmas tree crop of your own!
*Yellow Springs resident Don Cipollini, Ph.D., is a professor of biological sciences at Wright State University.
Though the village’s corner pharmacy was closed unexpectedly for two days earlier this week, and amid some rumors circulating online of a permanent closure, the technicians behind the counter at Yellow Springs Pharmacy had simple message for the community:
“We’re here for the long-haul,” pharmacist Rick Berning told the News on Friday, Jan. 9. “Yes, we had to close for a few days, but in the long-term, we’re not going anywhere.
Barring any additional unexpected closures, Yellow Springs Pharmacy’s hours will continue to be Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Berning explained that this week’s two-day closure occurred because of the unexpected loss of the previous pharmacist, Brian Ludney, who just recently moved onto a different job in healthcare.
Because the pharmacy’s parent company, Florida-based Benzer Pharmacy, didn’t find a replacement pharmacist quickly enough, the village’s only drug counter was forced to close. Then, on Jan. 8, Berning came to temporarily fill in. He’s been a pharmacist for 50 years, and for several years in the early aughts, worked for Town Drug.
The site of a pharmacy for more than 90 years, the shop — located at the corner of Xenia Avenue and Glen Street — has been owned by Benzer since 2018. Benzer bills itself as an independent alternative to the large chains while operating more around 85 owned stores and 38 franchised stores across 17 states.
According to Berning, the location’s new pharmacist is expected to begin “as soon as he signs on the dotted line,” and in the meantime, Yellow Springs Pharmacy will continue to be staffed by just him and technician Miranda Pennington — the sole employees.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience with us,” Pennington said, alluding to occasionally longer-than-normal wait times for prescription fills, compared, at least, to when the pharmacy had more than two staffers behind the counter.
Berning added that ongoing pharmaceutical drug shortages across the country have also affected local operations.
“For instance, we’re having a hard time getting a hold of a certain drug called Eloquis,” Berning said. Eloquis is the brand name for Apixaban, an anticoagulant medication used to treat and prevent blood clots and prevent stroke.
“And in some cases, people will want their prescription to be sent to Kroger,” he continued. “But I’ll have just called them, and they’ll be out of it, too.”
That example aside, Berning said that Yellow Springs Pharmacy presently has more difficulty in stocking generic medications over name-brands.
The News will continue reporting on forthcoming updates and changes at Yellow Springs Pharmacy.
The area National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, hosts a local Connection Recovery Support Group, for those living with a mental health condition, the second Monday of each month, 6:30–8 p.m. The next meeting is Jan. 12.
A Yellow Spring-based Family Support Group, for those who love someone with a mental health condition meets the second Thursday of the month, 6–7:30 p.m. The next meeting is in February.
Both groups meet in Rooms A&B at the John Bryan Community Center. Email info@namicgm.org, or call 937-322-5600, for more information.
Support groups also meet during the day Wednesdays at the Vernon Center in Springfield. This drop-in center at 222 East St. offers a variety of services and activities Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m.–3 p.m.
Transportation to the Vernon Center is available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to Yellow Springs residents who live with a mental illness. Call 937-505-9435 between 8:30–9:30 a.m. to be picked up.
Miami Township trustees agreed this week to bring in outside help as they work to untangle the Township’s books ahead of budget planning early next year.
At their Dec. 1 regular meeting, trustees voted 2–1 to contract with accounting consultant Deborah Watson, a former fiscal officer for Bethel Township, through the end of this month. Trustee Chair Chris Mucher voted against the measure, citing concern about an outside party accessing the Township’s financial records, but the motion carried with “yes” votes from trustees Marilan Moir and Don Hollister.
Though Ohio Revised Code 9.36 allows the “trustees of any township [to] contract for the services of fiscal and management consultants” to assist with execution of their duties, the trustees agreed to consult legal counsel about the limits of any consultant’s financial work.
Moir said Watson will work alongside Fiscal Officer Jeanna GunderKline to sort out longstanding issues in the Township’s accounts and help establish basic procedures. She noted that the work is especially urgent for Miami Township Fire-Rescue, which she said has struggled to confidently project both current operations and long-term capital needs with current financial data.
Those same accounting concerns shaped the board’s response to a renewed request from Yellow Springs Senior Center Executive Director Caroline Mullin, who asked the Township to consider adding the center to its 2026 budget. Mullin noted that Yellow Springs is demographically the “oldest community in Greene County” and has one of the oldest senior centers in the area, founded in 1959, because, she said, “the Township and the Council together acknowledged that we needed such an organization.”
“In the last 40 years … we have not had municipal support, either from the Village or from the Township,” Mullin said, noting that Council did appropriate $32,000 to go toward the Senior Center in its 2026 budget.
Moir praised the center’s work, but said she did not believe the Township is in a position to make a financial commitment until the books are in better order. She said the Township’s fiscal office “is not in good shape right now, and our systems are not good.
“Our accounting data is unreliable; our books are not reconciled,” she said, adding that she believes the Township’s first duty is to ensure it can meet its own operational and capital needs.
Hollister, who will leave the board at the end of the year, said he hopes a future board will be able to support the center once the Township’s finances are clearer.
In other Township business, Dec. 1—
Zoning Administrator Bryan Lucas presented a slate of proposed increases to zoning fee schedules, intended to bring Miami Township in line with other Greene County jurisdictions. Under the proposal, the fees for a new residential dwelling or primary structure permit would rise from $100 to $200, with accessory structure permits increasing from $50 to $100 and conditional use applications from $150 to $200, among other permits and applications. Lucas said he does not believe it is the Township’s role “to discourage our residents” from applying for updated permitted or conditional uses to their properties, but that the updated fees better reflect the staff work involved and match “more of the going rates” in neighboring townships.
The trustees did not make a decision on the fees at the Dec. 1 meeting, but said they would take Lucas’ proposal under consideration, likely in January.
The next regular meeting of the Miami Township Board of Trustees will be Monday, Dec. 15, at 5 p.m.
At the end of 2025, the News asked folks to share their favorite Yellow Springs memories — and we received a flood of responses from villagers near and far. So numerous were the memories, in fact, that we can’t get all of them in one issue — so look for them within the pages of the News for the rest of the month.
Happy New Year to you, our extended community — always part of the village, no matter where you are now — and thank you for writing.
—Lauren “Chuck” Shows, Editor
Wow, Chuck, this is a tough one this year. Looking back over the decades, I’m stuck.
Is my favorite memory of those Friday nights at Hag Harbor in the ’80s, or the Student Council dances at Morgan Middle, featuring MC Hammer and the middle school boys’ best break dancing? Surely it was the honor of coaching the eighth grade girls basketball team, who went undefeated in their regular season for two years in the early ’80s. Was it one of the literacy methods classes while adjuncting at Antioch College in the ’90s or the last class ending the 15-year run on the faculty at Antioch Midwest in 2015? Wait! It must have been election night on Nov. 7, 2017, or the first wedding I officiated as mayor — or the final proclamation.
So, you got me. Too many favorite memories to pick just one.
—Pam Conine
It was Halloween 1952 and there was once again to be a costume contest on Mills Lawn. My friends, Jessica Langton, Barrie Dallas and Robin Lithgow (fourth- and fifth-graders) and I were grouching to my father, Paul Treichler, that our costumes had never won anything. Well, he said, why don’t you go as the Brooklyn Dodgers — who had just lost the World Series to the New York Yankees for the gazillionth time.
We wondered how this could possibly work and whether anyone would get it. “Trust me,” said Daddy, and built us an amazing Brooklyn Bridge out of various rods and poles and wires and other hunks of metal — he was in theater, after all. It was about eight feet long, the perfect size for us sad, dejected Dodgers to carry on our slumping shoulders. We wrote our team’s name on old caps and T-shirts and dragged bats and mitts dejectedly behind us.
We were a sensation! And we won first prize! Basking in our glory, we joined the rest of the village for Walter “Andy” Anderson’s churned apple butter.
(In 1955, the Dodgers finally beat the Yankees: “Jackie Robinson opened the World Series with a daring dash against Yogi Berra,” a play still discussed and debated to this day.)
—Paula Treichler
Having grown up in the village, I have lots of fond memories of the community, like walking across the Antioch golf course. In the winter, I would come to the Antioch School soaking wet, having wiped my arms up and down while lying in the snow to create an angel.
Then during my last two years of high school, a few of us Bryan High School students joined Antioch College students on Red Square to folk dance every Friday night. One night as I was going to sleep, I named and counted all of the dances I knew, which came to 168 dances!
During the holiday season, I remember a favorite activity, which was the Community Carol Sing, led by Walter Anderson and accompanied by Jean Putnam. Many years later, I led the carol singing, which I thoroughly enjoyed!
Just going downtown gives me joy and memories of seeing friends and visiting with folks as I buy whatever I need. Shopping is my therapy!
—Patti Dallas
Our first Christmas as a married couple and our first Christmas in America started in Yellow Springs in 1978. Christmas Eve, we watched Albert Finney in “Scrooge” at the Little Art Theatre. As we left almost at midnight and walked to our apartment on Glen Street, the snow was gently falling. The silence of the night and the gentle snow was beautiful, and everything looked magical, and I was madly in love with my husband and with America.
—Corrine Bayraktaroglu
I lived in Mill Run Cabin in the Glen when I worked at the News. I didn’t have a car, so I usually rode to work on my bike. Tuesday was when we ran the press into the night to get the paper printed for distribution on Wednesday. The night before the big blizzard, I rode home as it was just beginning, and I have a mental image — and a photo — of a deserted downtown with a light coating of snow and more in the air. I walked through the Glen into work the next day.
—Bill McCuddy
I remember Tim Hackathorne at his post at the table on Xenia Avenue, being the eyes and ears of the village, watching and keeping track, all while reading a book, even on the coldest days. At another table, Terry Snider, cradling his small cup of coffee, would listen with care and concern to anyone who sat down with him, warmly assuring them, “You are doing so well,” even in the midst of a multitude of troubles.
“Here on Xenia Avenue everything’s OK,” Terry would say, and so it was, nurtured by these two guardians. They passed away within six months of each other seven years ago. I miss them both so much.
George remembers having the freedom as a small child in a small town to roam and explore all on his own. In the late 1950s, as a 6- or 7-year-old, when he lived with his family in half a duplex on Glen Street, he explored the Glen to his heart’s content and could walk into town anytime he felt like it, often barefoot, to take in a Saturday afternoon matinee at the Little Art for 50 cents or buy a bag of goodies at the bakery on Xenia Avenue for a quarter, then hide under the big blue spruce at the end of the block to enjoy it.
Once, he and his friend Prentice Tomas rode their bikes all the way to Clifton and back — George’s with 18-inch wheels — down and up Grinnell Road, all the way down Clifton Road and back into town on State Route 343. It was all farmland back then, and aside from the rare car or two, all was well until George skidded on the gravel in the driveway of the Bushes’ house near the corner of 343 and 68, skinning his knee. Mrs. Bush kindly patched him up and both kids were back on Glen Street in time for supper, without the grown-ups being any the wiser.
—Abigail Cobb and George Bieri
Returning to my pregnant wife and 2-year-old child after my first day of work. It was a snowy January evening in 2007, and we had just moved here from Scotland. It felt like I was coming home.
—Chris Wyatt
One time while spending time in the woods by my lonesome, a complete stranger joined me in a meditation with no words exchanged, and then I was invited to lunch by two strangers and had one of the most profound conversations of my life — all in one day. YS is always magical.
—Geneva Tarot
My favorite memory would have to be when the lifeguard’s whistle would blow for a “rest break” at Gaunt Park pool. Running down the hill barefoot on the hot cement, and then tiptoeing across the gravel to the candy stand. We would race back up the hill to get in the pool as soon as the break was over.
—Jessica Barnes
As a kid walking with my babysitter in the late ’60s, with people making pottery on the sidewalks, playing guitars, drumming, peace signs and sipping a dirt-type natural milkshake.
—Tessie Nolan
Join me in the way-back machine, if you will, back to the early 1990s. Desi and I were new in the village. We lived catty-corner from the house that is now the Dharma Center. Robert and Diana lived there at the time; we became friends and we decided to revive the tradition of having a May pole dance in the grass “triangle” in front of our houses.
We found the pole used in the past, cut new steamers to be wound around it, and invited the whole community. It became a big party that went on for four or five years.
One year someone — I won’t say who — noticed that the streamers had gotten a little ratty and had the great idea that we should iron them. So, we found an ironing board, set it up on the street bordering the triangle, and we took turns ironing the streamers.
The May pole dance that year was fun, as it always was, but what I remember the most was ironing the multicolored streamers on that ironing board in the middle of the street.
—Ellis Jacobs
One time people were having a bar fight outside the Gulch while my friend and I were playing “Angela” by Bob James on flute and guitar. The contrast was insane.
—Nathan Hardman
One of the first causes I was involved in supporting when I moved to YS was working to remove the YSPD from the ACE Task Force. I was so impressed with the due diligence of the Human Relations Commission and community organizers and the experience encouraged me to become engaged in the community.
—Jessica Thomas
One day during the first winter, I was transporting Tanner to Mills Lawn and there was a dollar in the snow. We parked close to that same spot every day for at least a week, and that dollar stayed there. Everyone who’d passed it left it in hopes the original owner would find it. I still refer back to that as one of the moments that solidified my decision to bring our kids here.
—Dawn Miller
That time people came to my house to get bread. No joke! One of the really neat things about the village is how many exchanges happen from home to home of all manner and all kinds. Baked goods, sure; used items and clothes, crafted things, meal trains.
—Helena Maya Maus
When I saw the invitation from the News to submit memories of Yellow Springs, I also read Michael Viemeister’s letter to the editor about “Being ‘from’ Yellow Springs” in the same issue. Those two items became very linked in my mind as I’m often asked where I’m from. My answer is, of course, from Yellow Springs, but I usually add “Where Antioch College is.” Most people seem to recognize Antioch, and it gives them an insight into the person I’ve become. Antioch’s social, political and unique educational process was absorbed by the entire community, including us kids.
Whenever we visit Yellow Springs once or twice a year and drive around town, I still say to my husband or to myself: “There’s the Dallases’ house, the Treichlers’ house, the Deweys’ house, the Lithgows’ house” and many more. The people who lived there are my strongest memories of my childhood. My friends and I could wander all over town and never feel unsafe; we could ride our horses into town and nobody batted an eye; we were in plays at the Antioch Area Theatre;, went to the Antioch School, which taught me so much more than how to read and write; we got to be a part of nature in the Glen — well, you get the idea.
What I’ve carried forward into my 82nd year is the sense of coming home whenever we visit Yellow Springs and the deep and long-lasting friendships that have stayed with me from kindergarten until now. The example I can give you is there are about 10 women who started to Zoom once a week during COVID, and we are continuing to Zoom every Friday night five years later. Sometimes there are seven or eight of us, but usually it’s four or five. There was a lot of reminiscing in the early days, but now we talk about everything. There is something about sharing our lives with people who have known each other for nearly 80 years. Yellow Springs gave me that, and I’ll be forever grateful.
—Jessica Langton Andrews
One of my favorite memories as a kid was Halloween. YSO had fire pits around the village to stop by, get warm, and get hot chocolate. YS police cruisers roamed the village handing out candy. Only time seeing kids chasing the cops. Wonderful memory!
—Janmichael Graine
About a year ago, I was getting my eggs from Mark. I told him I would be in town and in a class until 11. He came looking for me and as I left my class, somebody said, “Karla, Mark’s looking for you.” I left the building, walked a few shops down and somebody said, “Hey Karla, Mark’s looking for you.” This has warmed my heart so much and always puts a smile on my face. The sweetness of a small village!
—Karla Alyse
The time when as a little guy, I informed my mother that I was going to walk downtown by myself! She agreed and it turned out fine. Years later I found out that after I left, she went on to call everyone along the route and have them report in as I walked by. It took a village.
—Martin Tranum
Knocking on Gabby’s, tryna graduate Antioch, scraping coins for a plate, son.
—Felicia Chappelle
Climbing the big rock and walking the many stairs down to the skunk cabbage in Glen Helen when I was in pre-K!
—Madeline Jacknin Sexton
Hanging out at Com’s, frequenting Eddie’s Drive Thru and buying Boone’s Farm, eating ice cream from Grote’s. Years before that, eating at the Antioch Inn on Sundays with my parents.
—Betsy Harner
Skipping school for the day in 1976, hiking in Glen Helen and the Pine Forest, cruising through John Bryan, dinner at Trail Tavern (remember spaghetti night?) and finishing at Young’s. Awesome days, awesome memories.
—Andrea Tinch Paulos
Asking my now wife to marry me at the Winds Cafe over a decade ago.
—John Wehner
One night my grandmother took me out just to walk around town. A jazz band was playing at the Emporium, and to my delight I made a new friend that also liked all kinds of music. We ended up playing music in front of Tom’s sometimes afterwards and even played at Gabby Day. Will was a good friend and I miss him dearly. I think of him when I play my guitar sometimes.
—Ren Ramos
Coming here from where I lived on Route 72 in Springfield to spend afternoons or evenings in the ’80s. Getting soft serve at Weaver’s, taking yoga at the college gym, shopping at Import and being served at the Tavern with friends. My childhood self knew I’d return someday for good. And I did.
—Kellye Pinkleton
Dancing at the Gulch, getting donuts at the bakery at midnight, being at the demonstration supporting Paul Graham trying to get his hair cut at Gegner’s, the fair in Gaunt Park before the fireworks on July 4.
—Gwen Agna
In the early ’70s (pre-tornado), the Greene County Easter Seal Society took kids in wheelchairs on the trails in Glen Helen. My mom was the director and I was (reluctant) volunteer No. 1.
—Charles King
Dark Star Books when I was like 6 years old, back in the old location and like four cats ago. And then for years after my dad and I would spend Saturdays scouring the boxes for back issues of X-Men.
—Jeff Dern
Buying Tootsie Rolls at the variety store for a penny each.
—Iris Bieri
At first, I found it difficult to cut a memory from a situation that is still creating memories. I know I can do it. For example: I remember when I was 10 years old — and I am still alive. However, my relationship with the community seems to have less distinct boundaries than time gives, so my memories are also less of events and more of change.
Looking back about 50 years, I realize that I knew most of the employees in the school system. Perhaps that is not surprising since I was a student and so were my three sisters. My parents taught in the system and my daughter attended. My wife served on the school board. I tutored. I can remember where the teachers lived in town.
I knew almost everyone who worked for the Village and they usually lived in town. I chatted with police officers and shared equipment and labor with the Village crew. I was asked to work on projects that matched my expertise.
I knew the majority of the owners and workers of the businesses in town because I did business with them and I saw them in their homes in town.
I find that, although I have many new and different interactions today, I miss the sense of community that came from working together to meet our needs.
—Richard Zopf
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