A tree trimmed with care

By LIAM MAYO
Posted 1/15/25

SHOHOLA, PA — It’s not uncommon for a Christmas tree to scrape the ceiling—but when that ceiling is 20-plus feet high, that’s a less common occurrence. 

Shohola …

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A tree trimmed with care

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SHOHOLA, PA — It’s not uncommon for a Christmas tree to scrape the ceiling—but when that ceiling is 20-plus feet high, that’s a less common occurrence. 

Shohola resident Robert Nast has been trimming his truly titanic trees since moving to the area, 20 years ago. 

This year’s tree came off the stump at 22 feet. Getting it inside the house required the Nast family to trim it down to 20 feet, and required a forklift to move it around. Getting it upright required a solid steel tree base that weighs in at 150 pounds. 

Once inside, Robert spent over a week trimming at the branches, getting the tree in tip-top shape. 

“I’m the only one touching it,” he said. 

Evalyn, his wife, said he places the decorations in the tree with a picker arm, “one ball at a time, one tinsel at a time.”

“He must have been an artist or a baker in a past life,” she said. 

“It is fun,” he said. “A lot of patience, that’s all.”

Once all assembled, the tree hosts 2,700 lights and countless pieces of tinsel. 

It also hosts one very special ornament: a taxidermy deer head, peering out from between the dark green needles. It’s the first deer Robert shot, from the early 1970s, and is a regular fixture of the tree’s ornamentation. 

The tree brings the Nast family together around the holiday time. 

The Nasts used to travel three states to visit their children for the holidays, says Robert. Now, “everybody comes here, always.”

tree, trimmed, care, Nasts

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