For Randy and Chris Gagner, selling Christmas trees isn’t just about supporting the Roy and surrounding communities. While the Gagner Family Farm has built a strong clientele of families who come back every year for trees, the tree sales are only an outlet to aid their bigger mission.
The Gagners, who have sold trees from their Roy farm for 25 years, were inspired to start selling trees from other local farms to fund mission trips around the world. The couple and their six children have all gone on many mission trips, including to Guatemala, Uganda, Mexico and Thailand to help orphaned children.
“If you go on a mission trip, you would know what we’re saying,” Randy Gagner said. “Even here in the United States, it’s a joy to be able to give to somebody. But when you go to a third-world country, it’s an experience that you have to be there to experience. It’s just a joy.”
The Gagners purchased their property in 1994 and began selling trees about five years later. They don’t grow their own trees; they fill their inventory with trees from Rainier, Winlock, Cinebar, Onalaska and Rochester, among other places. The family does, however, grow its own vegetables, such as tomatoes, cucumbers and squash.
Randy and Chris, who have been married for 48 years, have had an earlier influx of customers this year than ever. The Gagner Family Farm tries to have a collection of at least 100 trees, including Douglas firs, noble firs, Fraser firs and Nordmann firs by Black Friday, which is opening day for them.
“It’s been busy earlier than normal. I don’t think that we’ve been busy this early before,” Chris said.
The Gagners have help from several family members, including a couple of their children and their significant others. Randy believes the community appreciates the family aspect of the farm’s operations and wants to support them for that reason, especially with how the sales fund their mission trips around the world.
“People love it because it’s personal. I don’t want to be corporate. I want to be family,” he said. “People come because they know us and they can trust us. We’re going to give them good quality products. We tell people that if you tie a tree on your car and lose it, we’ll replace it. We’ve never lost one.
“The community is very supportive. When people hear that this touches orphans and that we help them out, they’re very supportive of that,” he continued.
Gagner Family Farm will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Dec. 24. Prices range from $40 to $100 depending on the type and size of the tree, and decorated wreaths are $35. The Gagners also have a pop-up tent full of secondhand Christmas decor at a bargain, including fake wreaths, ornaments, lights and trinkets, along with breads and sweets.
The season of giving is year-round for the Gagners. They use their spare time away from their jobs to find ways to give to the community and help those in need.
“That’s what this is all about is blessing other people,” Randy said.
Gagner Family Farm is located at the 1-mile marker on Highway 702 at 35315 76th Ave. Court S. in Roy.
