MILLBROOK — While others were grabbing deals at Black Friday sales, the Cruise family of Dover Plains was at Evergreen Farm on Tower Hill Road continuing a 10-year tradition of picking out their Christmas tree the day right after Thanksgiving.
They weren’t the only ones — Evergreen Christmas Tree Farm owner Richard Phillipps said he usually sells out after just one or two weekends.
Philipps has between 3,000 and 4,000 trees on his property, but only about 400 to 500 are mature enough to sell in any given year.
Zach Elder, right, holds on to a Christmas Tree while his father, Josh, both of Mt. Kisco, New York, cuts the tree down with a handsaw. Photo by Nathan Miller
The demand for Christmas trees has stayed steady, but Philipps said farmers face other challenges that have caused many to shutter operations in recent years.
“The original people, like me, they get old,” Philipps said. “The youngsters don’t want to take over the business and they sell the land. It’s typical of what happens to farmers in general.”
Some families have had to change their traditions, like the Costas family of North Salem in Westchester, New York. They came to Evergreen for the first time last year after 20 years of going to a tree farm that closed.
The Costas family of North Salem, New York, working together to fell their Christmas tree at Evergreen Farm on Friday, Nov. 28. They started coming to Evergreen farm last year because their typical tree farm of the prior 20 years closed permanently.Photo by Nathan Miller
Closures of tree farms like Fabulous Firs in Poughkeepsie have driven more customers to Evergreen Farm. The increased demand at Evergreen creates some strain for Philipps. “It’s always difficult, because customers count on us to stay open,” he said.
Despite the strain, Philipps said it’s rewarding to be a part of families’ holiday traditions, especially the longstanding ones.
“We’ve had the same people coming here for 30 years,” Philipps said. He and his wife, Wendy, said they’ve watched children and families grow up to bring multiple generations through the farm every year.
Evergreen Farms is one of three tree farms in northeast Dutchess County. Other options include Abel's Trees in Verbank and Murphy Crest Farms on Depot Hill Road in Amenia.
Max Amsterdam reaches out to pet a red panda at the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo on Millbrook School’s campus on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Amsterdam is a senior at Millbrook School and serves as the zoo’s head student curator.
Stahl said the zoo has been engaged in a long-range master planning process for several years as part of preparing for its next Association of Zoos and Aquariums accreditation review in 2027. “We knew we had to make a plan and look toward the future,” Stahl said. “We had to think about what more we could be doing for the animals, for students and for the community.”
Construction is nearing completion on a new animal holding barn, the first step toward housing off-exhibit animals. Funded by philanthropist Barbara Tober — whom Stahl described as the project’s “catalyst” — the facility is required under AZA accreditation standards. The holding barn will serve as a first stop for new animals required to quarantine before entering an exhibit. It will also safely house animals when enclosures are being repaired or when they need rehabilitation.
The new animal hospital, which zoo staff are referring to as an animal wellness center, is poised to be four times larger than the existing space. Stahl said the team is looking forward to dramatically expanding the zoo’s ability to treat animals on campus, eliminating the need to transport them off-site for procedures like X-rays or ultrasounds.
Max Amsterdam feeds a red panda at the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo on the Millbrook School campus on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Amsterdam said he became interested in the school's zoo in his freshman year when he watched an older student perform a biopsy on a wolf that had passed away at the zoo.Photo by Aly Morrissey
Stahl said a primary goal of the master plan and the animal wellness center is to “bring the outside in.” The public will be allowed to watch certain procedures and operations to learn more about the veterinary work that goes on behind the scenes.
In addition to the zoo’s around-the-clock staff, rotating veterinarians visit the zoo each week to check on the animals and perform routine procedures. The current space is limited, and zoo staff are eager to have an expanded footprint.
“Right now we’re very limited space-wise,” Stahl said. “This new facility will let us have more space, more vets and more learning happening.”
Max Amsterdam has lived at the Millbrook School as a boarding student for four years and has held a working role at the zoo throughout that time. Today, in his senior year, he serves as the zoo’s head student curator — a coveted leadership role that requires a formal application and selection process.
When Amsterdam first applied to Millbrook School, the zoo was not front-of-mind. Although he wanted to become a veterinarian as a young child, the desire dissipated until he set foot in the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo as a freshman.
“I watched a senior perform a biopsy on a red wolf that had passed away from a uterine tumor,” Amsterdam said. “I didn’t even know that students could do that. I realized right then how incredible this place was and the zoo became my thing.”
Over his four years at Millbrook, Amsterdam has assisted veterinarians, shadowed medical procedures, conducted necropsies and even traveled with staff to national AZA conferences. “As you grow, you gain a relationship with the staff and vets, and when they know you can handle it, they let you do more,” he said.
With graduation on the horizon and plans to study biology at Bucknell, Amsterdam admits he’s a little jealous of the future students that will benefit from the new zoo facilities.
At the end of the day, he is grateful for the hands-on experience he has received in his leadership roles at the zoo. Millbrook School is the only high school in the country with an AZA-accredited zoo on its campus.
“I’m jealous, but I’m also so grateful that the zoo got that donation because it’s needed,” Amsterdam smiled. “We deserve it, too. It’s a lot of hard work by the staff and students — it’s 200% effort seven days a week, and not many people see that.”
