Each year in November, those at the Oxbow central offices in Murdock, Nebraska, discuss ideas for the company Christmas card. This year they agreed to do something decidedly different which customers and friends would enjoy and associate with Oxbow. Lucas Stock, Oxbow’s Marketing Communications Specialist, tells us, “Our Chief Operating Officer, Deb Buhro, came up with the idea to construct a tree out of hay that we could photograph and display on a card. Everyone else loved the idea, so we ran with it.”

In late November while the weather was still warm and cooperative, the Oxbow “elves” were busy moving bales of Orchard Grass from a trailer at the back of the Oxbow farm to the tree building site near the entrance. Members of Oxbow’s sales and marketing teams loaded the bales onto pallets and a couple of their production and shipping employees moved the hay to the build site. The Christmas tree construction was a group effort and passersby were curious about the activities on the roadside. “The construction of the tree took a few hours, and the stringing of the lights and adding the star took a couple more. In the end, we were all very happy with how it turned out,” Stock said.

The twenty foot tall holiday tree is approximately fifteen feet in diameter at the base and uses over one hundred bales of Orchard Grass. Stock explains, “We don’t have to deal with light pollution where we’re at in the country, so the tree really stands out against the dark landscape. It looks especially great with a little snow on the ground.” The tree is illuminated each night and can be seen just off of Mill Road near the main entrance to Oxbow. Guests have an open invitation to view the holiday tree according to Stock. “We love having guests at Oxbow, so we would invite anyone to come by and see the tree!”

Image courtesy of Oxbow

Image courtesy of Oxbow

Image courtesy of Oxbow

The Oxbow offices are full of holiday spirit through the season as well. “We love celebrating the holidays at Oxbow!” Stock tells Guinea Pig Today. “Many of our departments are adorned with lights and decorations. There’s a tree in our sales department with Oxbow products beneath as the presents.”

What happens to all of the hay after the holidays? Oxbow has already arranged to donate the Orchard Grass used in the construction of the monumental holiday tree to a local farmer.

Image courtesy of Oxbow

Image courtesy of Oxbow

This is the first year Oxbow has taken on such an endeavor but it does not appear to be the last. “We really liked how it turned out and will probably do something similar next year,” Stock tells us. “Who knows… maybe we’ll build something completely different next year using the same hay medium. We’re always open to ideas!”

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