Two Tarboro stores and the Tarboro Optimist Club are satisfied with the number of Christmas trees they've sold since the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Marrow-Pitt Ace Home Center on North Main Street and the Food Lion on Saint Andrew Street in Tarboro are two stores selling Fraser firs for Edgecombe County residents this year. The Tarboro Optimist Club is selling Christmas trees for its 45th straight year, lining up its Fraser firs next to All About Flowers on Howard Avenue in Tarboro.

Mears Pitt, Ace Home Center president, said that his store's Christmas tree sales so far have been well "ahead of last year." Three hundred of the 400 trees the store ordered from Three Oaks Ltd. Nursery in Blowing Rock had been sold through Tuesday, Pitt said, with the store receiving its first trees on Friday.

When asked if his store would receive any more, he added that they would not, that "we get a one-time shot at these," with its order made back in July.

Ace Home Center offers its 6- to 7-foot-tall trees for $39.99, its 7- to 8-foot-tall ones for $51.99, and its 9-feet-tall and up trees for $79.99. The store offers to trim, deliver and mount its trees at no extra cost.

Mike and Mary Chatt of Tarboro were happy to get their 7-foot-tall tree from Ace on Tuesday. They were especially pleased that the store would deliver it to their home at no extra cost.

The Optimist Club had sold 93 Fraser firs between Saturday and Tuesday afternoon, club member Harold Wright said. The Optimists ordered 203 trees from Yates Tree Farm near Boone, who has "been real good to us" since the club started ordering from them around a decade ago, Wright added.

The sales have gone "surprisingly well" for the club, according to Wright, who said the group had been wondering about the effects the economy would have on their yearly sale. Despite the recession, "we have had excellent sales so far," in part because of the loyalty of yearly customers who contribute to the club by buying a tree, Wright added.

The Optimists' proceeds from their tree sales go to local Boy Scout troops, who also help the club with the tree lot.

Troop 816 from First Free Will Baptist Church, Troop 96 from St. James United Methodist and Troop 49 from Howard Memorial Presbyterian are helping again this year, along with a new troop from Sunset Church of God, Troop 226.

Adam Whitehurst, 15, and 16-year-old Chris Evans of Troop 816 helped Wright run the lot Tuesday afternoon, using a machete to take off rope tightly wound around the unsold trees.

Prices for The Optimist Club's trees are $42 for 7-foot-tall trees, $52 for 8-footers, $70 for 9-footers and $100 for 10-foot tall trees.

Over at the Food Lion on Saint Andrew Street, Manager Henry Avery, Assistant Manager Walter Powell and Assistant Production Manager Chris Hale all straightened out the rows of trees they had left to sell over the weekend.

"We've sold a bunch" over the holiday weekend, around 45, Powell said, which left the store with only 30 trees. The store has no plans to have any more trees this season, as Avery noted that it was "no fun" to unload all the North Carolina-grown trees from the trucks on Friday.

Each of Food Lion's trees, between 6 to 8 feet tall, is $29.99.

The N.C. Extension Service tells consumers that shaking a tree will help show if the tree is fresh. If few needles fall off, and if the needles that do fall off snap like a carrot when they are broken, then the tree is fresh.

Also, the Extension Service recommends several steps for keeping the tree alive and fresh through the holidays. First, consumers should make a straight cut across the base of their tree, cutting off half an inch before putting the tree in a stand.

Since the tree could take up a gallon of water within the first 24 hours, a stand that'll hold a gallon or more is recommended. After the first day, a quart per day thereafter is enough.

Also, trees should be kept away from heat sources, including heating vents, fireplaces, wood stoves, radiators and especially sunny windows. For safety with Christmas lights, they should be turned off before leaving home and before going to bed. It's also advised to not overload the house interior's electric circuits with excessive plug-ins.