The customary Christmas tree delivery on Nov. 25, 2024, to the Kansas governor’s mansion from Fontana marked the beginning of the holiday season. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)
By Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector
CEDAR CREST — About a year ago, Ed Bartoszek’s mother could ride a tractor through the rows of pines on the family tree farm in Fontana.
His mother, Faye, now sits in a wheelchair after suffering a stroke in October of last year, but she was able to witness Monday a tree grown at her ’60s-era tree farm tucked into a corner at the governor’s mansion at Cedar Crest.
“Getting her up here was most important,” Bartoszek said.
It’s the first Christmas tree the Bartoszek family has been able to donate to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly from their farm, Fontana Pines, south of Kansas City. As it was delivered in a horse-drawn carriage and carried by the teen-aged members of the family into the mansion, Ed Bartoszek said he was filled with emotion.
“I’m feeling overwhelmed. It’s a nice feeling,” he said.
The tree was a 9-foot scotch pine, and Ed Bartoszek wandered the four fields of trees on his property to find the right one for Kelly.
Members of the Kansas Forest Service, the Kansas Christmas Tree Growers Association and the horses’ current and former owners welcomed the tree Monday alongside Kelly to mark the beginning of the holiday season.
The same pair of horses have delivered a Christmas tree to the governor’s mansion off and on for more than a decade.
Cecil and Robert Carter, the horses' former owners, have been a part of the ceremonious delivery during those years, and this year will likely be their last as they sold the business. The horses will carry on with new owners.
“It’s a relief,” Cecil Carter said. “The thing that we miss most is being out in the public.”
The Carters talked Monday on their drive to Cedar Crest about the politics, or lack thereof, in their business, Cecil said. Each governor is different. Former Gov. Sam Brownback used to like to get into the carriage and hold the reigns, he said.
“When I do a job, there’s no political feelings whatsoever,” Cecil Carter said.
Race, gender, political beliefs don’t matter to him, he said.
Kelly visited with Faye Bartoszek and the rest of the family and posed for photos in her home. She advised Kansans preparing for potentially opinionated holiday gatherings “to do exactly what I’m going to do — and that’s steer away from conversations that are divisive."
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly gazes up at a 9-foot scotch pine delivered to her residence on Nov. 25, 2024. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)
This article was republished with permission from the Kansas Reflector. The Kansas Reflector is a non-profit online news organization serving Kansas. For more information on the organization, go to its website at www.kansasreflector.com.
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