Operation Evergreen sending a little bit of home to troops today

COLUMBUS

Dozens of Ohio-grown Christmas trees should be arriving on Thanksgiving or Friday at military bases overseas, thanks to growers, veterans groups, schools and others who support the state’s annual Operation Evergreen effort.

It’s a little piece of home for the military men and women who will be on the job – and away from families – over the holidays.

“We do it for the troops,” said Amy Galehouse, owner and general manager of Galehouse Tree Farms in Doylestown, who coordinates the effort. “If you live overseas and you’re far away from home … and family, it’s just important. One of our members said a long time ago, when he got those cookies [while serving] in Korea, he didn’t care if they were in crumbs, they were from home.”

Galehouse and others involved in the effort met in suburban Columbus at the Ohio Department of Agriculture headquarters preparing about 100 trees for shipment to bases in Kuwait.

Trees have been shipped in mid-November annually for more than 20 years, with hopes they will arrive on bases today or shortly thereafter.

Read more about the effort in your Thanksgiving Vindicator or on Vindy.com.