 While with the Thanksgiving holiday this weekend, many have already started thinking about the next big holiday. This week in our Northwoods adventure, our Josh Peterson visits the Christmas Forest near Bemidji. Just east of Bemidji, tucked away in the woods, lies a place filled with holiday perfection. The Christmas Forest is a choose-and-cut-your-own Christmas tree farm that features a variety of different pines, owned and operated by John Hurlbert, who began planting his Christmas Forest in 1991, opened his gate for business for the first time in 1999. I retired from the post office in 94, and I started planting about three or four years before that, and when I retired I went over the road trucking for about five years, and by that time my trees are ready to sell. The Christmas Forest has everything from your traditional scotch and white pines, to exotic tree species, such as Chinese spruce. This year's heavy rains has made it so that all the trees are in the best shape possible. It's been very good. The trees grew very good because we had about 30 inches of rain from about April 1st. The personal family touch makes the experience of cutting your own Christmas tree a special one. Right down to making sure every guest to the Christmas Forest is greeted. John's only employee is his daughter, who works in the Christmas Shack, and gives every kid a Christmas treat. I come right out and I greet the customers and I give them a price list among the trees and what kind of trees I have, and if they want a special kind of tree, I can tell them where to find that one. For 18 years, families have flocked to the Christmas Forest to find their perfect tree to be the centerpiece of their holiday festivities. Running the Christmas Forest for all these years has become a labor of love, seeing families return year after year and all the smiles on kids' faces. I've had people that have been out here every year that I've been open for 18 years and I've seen their kids grow up from little kids until they are old enough to have their own kids. The Christmas Forest will officially open its gates this Friday and will be open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. through Christmas. With this week's Northwood's Adventure in Bemidji, I'm Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.