Butlers build on resources of community
Published 11:18 am Monday, August 4, 2003
By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Butler Tree Farm, established in 1998, is "more than a tree farm." It's already added "Campground" after its name, growing rapidly by tapping community resources to fill its craft shop with unique gifts and its bake shop with fresh pies, cakes, cookies, bread and muffins.
Detail-oriented owners Sam and Brenda Butler dedicate themselves to creating a warm, country atmosphere in which families can create memories to last a lifetime.
The Butlers nourished their vision of what they wanted while trying to cut holiday trees with their own grandchildren.
When it comes to old-fashioned outdoor fun, the Butlers' wagons provide scenic rides through covered bridges to and from the tree fields at this family theme park.
The Butlers Aug. 1-2 hosted the Howell-based Michigan Christmas Tree Association's (www.mcta.org) 2003 summer meeting at their Cedar Hill Farm.
According to the brochure for the meeting, the Butlers "have developed a unique destination and are experts at marketing their innovative choose- and-cut farm."
More than two-thirds of the MCTA's almost 200 members have choose-and-cut operations, according to Executive Director Marsha Gray.
Growers like Denise Pagura of Columbus, Ohio, expressed surprise at the quantity of business Butler's, 21515 Crane St., Volinia Township, seven miles east of Dowagiac, cultivates from Chicago.
Butler's offers trees and wreaths from the Friday after Thanksgiving in November and December, camping from April to October, pumpkins in October and the craft and gift shop every weekend.
A petting zoo is occupied by a menagerie of animals, including: three miniature goats, Nutmeg, Sarah and Cinnamon; four miniature horses, Buck, Hershey, Travis and Belle; nine donkeys, Jack, Jenny, Annie, May, Jill, Star, Princess, Jackie and April; two Belgian horses, Ben and Pete; and four peacocks, Pete, Penny, Brett and Bonnie.
Butler's offers eight varieties -- balsam, Douglas, blue spruce, Fraser fir, concolor, white pine, Scotch pine and white spruce -- with 16,000 trees in all growing stages on their 20 acres and 30,000 Fraser firs on an adjacent 80 acres of the Westrate Farm plantation.
A log cabin which sleeps five and has an upper loft was added in the fall of 2002. Each of the five camp sites has a covered pavilion and a supply of firewood. There are log cabin restrooms and a pump for drinking water. Camping is available Friday through Sunday. The area abounds with birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, wild turkeys and the Butler's peacocks.
Rounding out the agenda were speakers such as Rayanne Lehman of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture on managing mites and insects, Eric Sundback of Sheperdstown, W.Va., on culturing Fraser fir and Tom Figuroa of Nordlie Inc. in Warren on designing creative wreaths and a tour of Indiana's largest Christmas tree farm, Eby's Pines (800 acres and 750,000 trees) in Bristol, followed by an Amish dinner at Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury and a golf outing at Hampshire Country Club.
The impact the Butlers, married for 32 years, are having on agricultural tourism is ironic given that they planned to retire here.
Sam, a Norfolk Southern Railroad air brake specialist, oversees a 22-state region from Elkhart, Ind. They didn't even plan to open until 2005, when the first crop of trees they planted would be mature.
Contact the Butlers at 782-4650 or by e-mail at butlertrees@beanstalk.net.