Some balk, most pay for pricey trees
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
One of the last batches of Christmas trees on O'ahu sold briskly yesterday but a deadly traffic accident on the H-1 Freeway made it even harder to get a tree in the bumper-to-bumper traffic in 'Aiea.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Businessman Mike Petersen had 50 Noble firs flown in and put them on sale beginning at 1 p.m at Wally Ho's Garage and Grill at 98-380 Kamehameha Highway.
'Aiea resident Tripson Kerisiano makes off with a Christmas tree he bought from businessman Mike Petersen for $100 yesterday. Petersen, who had the Noble firs flown in from California, said the price was fair, considering what he paid to get them here.
At 1:30 p.m. a multi-car accident in the westbound lanes of the freeway forced thousands of cars to detour onto Kamehameha Highway directly in front of the tree lot, but because there were so many cars it was next to impossible to turn around or change lanes to reach the lot.
To attract customers, Petersen placed several trees beside the road and put a sawhorse in the back of a white pickup truck with a handwritten sign: "Christmas trees, $100."
Last night he said he had about 20 trees left and will be selling them today at the same location.
Jerry Gomes saw the traffic and decided to walk to the lot from his job at Pearl Harbor. He bought one of the last two dozen trees at about 5 p.m.
Gomes said he was in Las Vegas earlier this month and when he returned, all the trees on the island were sold out. He bought his tree and left it at the lot planning to return later with his car after the traffic died down.
"A tree makes Christmas better for the children," Gomes said.
Petersen had the trees, all 6 to 7 feet tall, flown in from California. He said the price is fair considering what he had to pay to get them here.
For those last-minute shoppers who still want a tree, you will have at least one more chance. The Mental Health Association will have trees available as part of its annual fund-raiser today and tomorrow at the Pearl City Elementary School parking lot. The sale begins at 10 a.m. The association said it is having the sale to make affordable trees available to families who need them. The trees are Douglas and Noble firs brought in from the Mainland and the price ranges from $29 to $75. The association expects to have 60 trees today and 60 more tomorrow. For information, call Tobias Seaman at 228-1002.
But Mililani resident Al'c Jones said the price was too high.
Affordable trees
Jones, who had to park a block away and walk back with his two young children, wanted a tree to make the first Christmas for his 8-week-old son Cordell special.
"Last year I paid $20," Jones said. "This is way too much."
Hawai'i Kai resident Cathy Hart wasn't going to let the price stop her.
Hart said she had called all around the island but couldn't find a tree anywhere. She was determined to have one for her 6-year-old son Austin.
"He wrote his letter to Santa and he's asking Santa, 'When are we going to get our tree?' " Hart said. "So I said ... OK, I have to get a tree. I'm so happy. I'm ecstatic."
'Aiea residents Tripson Kerisiano and his wife, Raynelle Garcia, and 5-year-old son Ransen also scored a late Christmas tree.
"We have a Christmas wreath and my son Ransen asked me, 'Why do we have a broken Christmas tree?' " Kerisiano said. "So I had to get one. We had to have a real tree for our (1-year-old daughter Temehani). An artificial one wouldn't do."
Petersen said every year there seems to be either too many trees and they end up selling for $1 each the week before Christmas or there is not enough and people will pay whatever it costs to make their Christmas complete.
Advertiser assistant city editor John Windrow contributed to this report. Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
