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thePeorian.com
W
hat started out a
family tradition that
turned into a hobby is
now a full-fledged business for
Barb and Russ Roth. And they
wouldn’t want it any other way.
“
It’s always enjoyable to see
new people who have never been
here before, but we love to see the
old friends who come every year.
What was our tradition has be-
come their tradition and we love
it,” Barb said recently, just before
The Red Barn Tree Shop opened
for the season on Oct. 1.
Now in its 28th season, The
Red Barn Tree Shop at 1811 W.
Jefferson in Morton has thou-
sands of trees ready for cutting at
its several area plantations. The
quaint and colorful decorations
store inside the 150 year old barn
is open now through Christmas
Eve with about anything one can
imagine for their tree or other
home decorations.
It is quite an operation for a
farm family that started cutting
their own trees for fun a few
decades ago and turned it into a
business.
“
My husband would take our
kids out and they would cut
down our family Christmas tree.
One year they came back and
my husband said, ‘wouldn’t it be
fun to grow our own Christmas
trees?’ It then became, ‘if we’re
going to grow them, we might
as well grow them for others
to enjoy, too.’ That’s how we
got started,” Barb said. “We’ve
grown trees and our business
every year since.”
The family still farms crops as
its livelihood, but the Christmas
tree and decoration business is
what Barb calls the fun part of the
family business.
The Red Barn shop, which
retains its original beams and
barn siding, came about because
Barb wasn’t sure just having trees
would be enough. “I felt we had
to have something else for people
to come here for, so that’s why
we started the decorations busi-
ness,” she said. “The Red Barn is
the fun part of it, but people do
come in for both.”
Specialty Retail: Seasonal
A CHRISTMAS TRADITION
The Red Barn Tree Shop puts
family fun into the season
Paul Gordon
Barb Roth, right, who with her husband Russ owns Red Barn Tree Shop, and co-worker Carol Troyer begin work on
the 150-year-old barn in August to have it ready to open by Oct. 1. It remains open until noon on Christmas Eve. Some
of the decorations sold at the Red Barn are seen on the next two pages.
