LANARK - Hilary and Clinton have been around the Christmas tree business for 16 years. They are the cats who arrived at Dollinger's Christmas Tree Farm when Former President Bill Clinton was first elected.

The business was started by John Dollinger's parents, Ned and Betty, back in the 1950s. When John was a high school kid it gave him the opportunity to be part of a farm business and earn money. His friends helped shear trees, plant and perform other tasks. They started selling their first trees in the middle 1960s. An average tree takes seven or eight years before it is large enough to harvest. Spruce and fir take a little longer.

John's dad, the late Ned Dollinger, had the farm and he was the postmaster in Lanark, Janie Dollinger recalled.

"A lady came in and said she was having a real fancy party and wanted a tabletop tree. Ned heard the weather forecast so skipped lunch and cut a tree for her before the big snowstorm. He took it to her but it would not do at all. It was not anything like she wanted. He left it in his truck and that evening a lady in Lanark that was quite well known for her decorating said: 'Ned, I am going to be having a fancy Christmas coffee and I would like a tabletop tree."'

"He said he had just the tree for her. She was real happy with the tree. She entertained the social women of Lanark. A couple of days later the first lady came back in. She said: 'Ned, I want a tree just like Dorothy Sorenson had at her coffee. That is what I wanted.' We never found out if he said that was her tree."

The Dollingers have had people bring a tree back because it was too big, or it didn't suit a spouse, or a multitude of other reasons.

"We started using by-products of the trees in 1966," Janie said. "We start out early in the season and make all-out wreaths that are going to be delivered to cemeteries because they are going to be outside anyway. So the first week that is what we do. I start making big wreaths."

They send wreaths to different parts of the United States in purpose-built boxes.

"We have to be inspected by an Illinois state inspector and be licensed by the state of Illinois to sell cut trees," Janie explained. "We are members of the Illinois Christmas Tree Growers Association. We try to get to the meeting, which is good for networking with other people in the business."

At one meeting of the association Janie agreed to be one of three speakers. After listening to the other speakers she wondered if she should change her speech. They talked about their parking lot and the number of people they had.

They required customers to spend no more than 12 minutes picking out a tree before paying and promptly leaving.

"That is not the philosophy I have about our business, at all," Janis stated adamantly. "We want this to be a family occasion."

The Dollingers encourage customers to take photographs of their visit for their scrapbook. "I want people to come and spend time here and do something their family is going to remember," Janie said.

One family from Polo makes a day of it by having breakfast before arriving at the farm.

Another family has been coming every year for three generations. Sometimes customers send photos of their tree when they have it set up.