By JOE CORTEZ
Special Correspondent
It’s the day before Halloween, and the sun beats down on the Central Valley, making it feel more like the day before the Fourth of July.
Halloween. Fourth of July. Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t really matter. In this tiny corner of the county, hard up against the Stanislaus-San Joaquin County line, Christmas is the main thing.
For most of the year, Morris Nursery, which sits on about 2.5 acres in Riverbank, operates like any other retail nursery, selling greenery and gardening supplies. But to get through the colder months, when customers are huddled by their fireplaces instead of sprucing up their yards, Morris Nursery becomes a winter wonderland, looking more like a garden center that you might find in the North Pole.
“Right after Christmas, we either go to a show or we do it online, and buy all the materials for the next year’s Christmas,” said owner Ron Hoffman, who hosted nearly 175 people for VIP Night on Oct. 29. “Prior to that, at the end of the season, we have to sit down and decide on new themes. Once we decide on new themes, then we start looking for the products. Usually, the shows are in the second week of January.”
Those themed trees anchor different sectors of the 4,500-square-foot store, located at 1837 Patterson Road.
There’s an under-the-sea tree, which features ornaments such as seashells, seahorses, starfish; a snowman tree that not only has snowman ornaments, but actually looks like a snowman, with a top hat for a tree topper; a peacock-themed tree is decorated with long beautiful feathers in hues of blue and green and purple; and there’s a snack-themed tree, decorated with candy cane and French fry ornaments; the zaniest of all is the upside-down tree, with the fat end of the tree at the top and the narrow end at the bottom. And, of course, there is a nativity-themed tree, which features angels, wise men, and the holy family as decorative elements.
“I just went off of what I found appealing. I really like textures, like on this tree,” said gift room manager Alyssa Campbell, pointing to a tree decorated with fuzzy poinsettia flowers, polar bears, chipmunks and foxes.
There are others, too, but if you’d rather create your own theme, Morris Nursery also offers imitation trees of various sizes.
In addition to all the Christmas trees, there’s a wide array of knick-knacks to help your house look more like Santa’s Workshop.
While the themed trees are what you notice immediately upon entering the nursery, the main attraction may be the winter village, featuring toy trains. And that’s all the brainchild of manager Jaci Machado.
Each year, the village takes on a completely new look, including new train routes.
“A problem of mine is attention to detail; I’m a perfectionist,” said Machado, who’s been decorating the village for the past 15 years. “I want it to look like you’re in the North Pole.”
Morris Nursery is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. An open house will be held on Nov. 29 – Black Friday – through Dec. 1.
