Wilford and Judy Salsberry were raised in the Lyons area and both graduated from Lyons High School in 1963. They got married in 1965 and they have been farming in Fulton County ever since. The Salsberry’s bought a small farm in 1965 that had several acres of high blow sand. After trying to grow corn, beans, and wheat on those areas for several years with no success, they decided to plant pine trees. Each year they planted 500 trees and after 8 or 9 years started to sell them as Christmas trees. They have since added three shops and still plant new trees each year.
Recently Wilford turned over most of the tree farm to Andy Mattimoe and Jeremy Smallman. They have been helping for many years now and have agreed to take over the operation. Wilford continues to stock his shops with merchandise and does odds-and-ends and projects around the tree farm.
An ice storm is bad news when we’re trying to sell Christmas trees. But it does happen more often then you think. It’s great to look at, but bad for business.