Early this morning, almost 1,000 trees and wreaths were delivered to the Wilshire Rotary’s Christmas Tree Lot to replenish the nearly empty lot. We met Tim Stotlar at 7:00 this morning to watch the load-in of the new trees. Stolar has been running the lot for founders Scott and Wendy Clifford for the last 13 years. Luis Cisneros, who also started working at the lot 13 years ago, was on hand to organize the workers unloading the truck. Stotlar said it would take several hours to get the trees set up.
“I’d like to thank our neighbors on both sides of the lot for their cooperation and support every year,” said Stotlar. Running the lot is a big job and it takes dozens of people to do the work. Watching the process this morning gave us a greater appreciation for what it takes.
“The trees were cut down on Sunday and deliver to us today, so they are really fresh,” explained Didi, a volunteer who also happens to be Wendy Clifford’s sister and is a regular fixture at both the annual Pumpkin Patch and the Christmas Tree lot. Finally, after struggling with AT&T for several months, the the phone line at the lot is working, or you can just stop by. The lot is open from 9 a,m. to 9 p.m. every day until Christmas. More than 1,300 trees have been sold so far this season. Today’s delivery will be the last one before Christmas.
