North Carolina
North Carolina Christmas tree farmers are optimistic after Hurricane Helene
Christmas tree farmers in western North Carolina are still rebuilding from last year’s devastating Hurricane Helene, but growers are optimistic about business and the overall strength of their industry in the region.
“There’s still a lot of recovery that needs to happen, but we’re in much better shape than we were this time last year … sales are good,” Kevin Gray, owner of Hickory Creek Farm Christmas Trees in Greensboro, said earlier this month, while the buying season was in full swing.
North Carolina is the nation’s second-largest Christmas tree producer, harvesting about 4m trees, mainly Fraser firs, annually, most grown in the western part of the state. As people all over the nation thrill to the twinkling lights and accumulating gifts under the boughs this festive season, few who buy a real tree may spare a thought for where it came from.
In October, 2024, Helene tore through the region, killing at least 95 people and causing widespread damage to homes, farms, roads, land and infrastructure. Officials estimated that the storm, at one stage a category 4, caused about $125m in losses of ornamental nurseries and Christmas trees alone.
A year later, while full recovery for some farms is still distant, many growers said their sales before the holidays were lively.
At Avery Farms, a 200-year-old family operation in Avery county, Helene ripped out about 80,000 of their Christmas trees, wrecked fields, equipment and buildings, and destroyed the home of manager Graham Avery’s parents.
That fall, the family sold what they could to the customers: a limited number of trees, wreaths, boughs and improvised tabletop trees fashioned from salvaged tops.
This year has been focused on rebuilding. Avery’s parents’ home was rebuilt with help from “lots of people donating their time” and they moved back in just a month ago. The family bulldozed damaged fields, fertilized the soil and planted about 20,000 trees this spring, a long-term project to regain pre-Helene output, as Christmas trees take from six to 12 years to mature.
“It’s going to be a while, but that’s the whole game that we play doing Christmas trees. It’s a very long-term investment,” Avery said. “We are set up to do it, and we will continue to do it.”
Even with significantly reduced inventory, Avery said, this season’s sales have been “very, very good” and the farm has doubled its wreath output and is shipping them nationwide.
“With what inventory we do have, we’ve had no issue selling,” Avery said.
Jennifer Greene, executive director of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association, said the industry remained strong despite the devastation to some growers.
The 2025 growing season also offered some relief. “We had a great spring with April rainfall,” she said, noting the trees “have actually had a great growing season”.
“We’re in the middle of a great season, we’re happy to not have a hurricane and we’ve had good weather for harvest. So things are looking good,” she said.
Dee Clark, owner of Christmas Corner and C&G Nursery in Avery county, shared similar optimism, despite retail sales plummeting last year when a road washed out and remained closed until summer.
“Early indications look promising,” Clark, 63, said, earlier in December. He added that his son had developed social-marketing efforts to boost sales.
A third-generation grower, Clark said Helene destroyed much of his farm’s infrastructure and damaged roads and culverts, triggering landslides that cost about 1,000 trees and stripped vital nutrients from the soil.
Clark, who said the storm “almost put us out of business”, has focused on repairs, replanting and restoring the land. He expects it will take years to replace lost trees, and knows many growers face a similar, long climb. But, he said: “The Christmas tree industry in western North Carolina as a whole is probably the best shape it’s ever been in as far as the supply of trees right now.”
At Cartner’s Christmas Tree Farm, owner Sam Cartner said he felt fortunate no lives or homes were lost in the flooding, but said landslides destroyed up to 10,000 trees.
“We probably won’t ever be able to plant those areas back, because the topsoil slid off,” he said. “We’ll have to find other areas to plant if we recover that number of trees.”
The Cartners worked quickly, and made enough repairs to have a “relatively normal harvest” last fall, he said, despite the major damage to roads, bridges and culverts on the property.
One of their trees was even selected last year to be displayed at the White House.
For many in the region, the Cartners’ White House tree became a symbol of resilience. Jamie Bookwalter, an extension specialist at North Carolina State University, recalled attending its send-off ceremony in Avery county.
“That Christmas tree represented a lot of people problem-solving,” she said, “which I think is what this area of the country is kind of known for: resiliency, problem-solving and self-reliance.”
Will Kohlway IV, a Christmas tree production extension specialist also at NC State, said the Cartners’ ability to harvest and deliver the tree, despite everything the region had dealt with, exemplified “the spirit of the mountains and also Christmas tree growers”.
They called the tree “Tremendous”, he said, because “it was really a tremendous effort”.
Bookwalter visited some of the hardest-hit farms immediately following the storm. “Helene was a terrible event, but farming in general is just becoming more difficult as temperatures become more unpredictable and we get wetter periods – the wetter periods are wetter, the drier periods are drier,” she said. “We’re all just kind of learning day by day.”
She said researchers are working to develop trees more resilient to the changing climate.
Kohlway said that the public’s support for the region’s growers and farms had been “humbling”.
“Buying a tree supports a North Carolina farmer,” he said. Even if purchased at a big-box store, the tree, Bookwalter added, “really represents probably a pretty small farmer”.
The suspect who shot at two Virginia deputies who were conducting a welfare check in Virginia was apprehended in Surry County, North Carolina Sunday, said the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspect, identified by the U.S. Marshals Office as 55-year-old Michael Timothy Puckett, was spotted on camera in North Carolina on earlier in the say, according to the Wytheville Police Department.
Police say the suspect he was seen on a wildlife game camera in Surry County, North Carolina, at 6:56 a.m.
A sheriff’s deputy in Carroll County died Friday after the suspect shot at the two deputies, according to law enforcement officials.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said the fatal shooting occurred after law enforcement received a request from a family member to do a welfare check.
A man at the home began shooting, and the deputies returned fire, the sheriff’s office said. Both deputies were hit.
“One deputy sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased. The second deputy was struck in his ballistic vest and is currently receiving medical evaluation and is reported to be in stable condition,” the office said in a statement.
Sheriff Kevin A. Kemp identified the officer who died as Deputy Logan Utt, a military veteran who joined the department in 2023.
“Today, Carroll County has lost a hero, and a family has suffered an unimaginable loss,” Kemp said. “Please keep his wife, children, family, friends, and fellow deputies in your thoughts and prayers.”
Coming off two impressive wins over VCU and East Carolina in the Chapel Hill Regional, the North Carolina Tar Heels head into Sunday’s matchup against Tennessee with significant momentum.
With all that being said, here is who will start on the mound for the Tar Heels on Sunday, with a lineup projection against the Volunteers in the third and final game of the regional round of the tournament.
Starting Pitcher Against Tennessee
Earlier this week, head coach Scott Forbes announced Ryan Lynch and Jason DeCaro would serve as the starters for the Tar Heels’ opening two games in the Chapel Hill Regional. With Caden Glauber contributing 4.1 innings on Saturday, compiling eight strikeouts while giving up three hits and two runs, Glauber could be less likely to start. However, I expect the true freshman to sprinkle in a few innings on Sunday against Tennessee.
- “Most of the time it becomes, ‘Okay, what do we feel like is the better matchup’ even though we feel like they match up well against anybody, and they [aren’t going to] be scared of anybody,” Forbes said. “That’s why we decided to go Lynch game one against VCU, and DeCaro will go game two against East Carolina or Tennessee.”
- “I feel like we have multiple aces,” Forbes said. “I feel like Jason DeCaro and Ryan Lynch are both Friday night guys.”
Projected Starting Lineup
Through the first two games of the regional round of the tournament, the Tar Heels are averaging 7.5 runs and 11 hits per outing. Based on what Forbes has rolled out in the opening games against VCU and East Carolina, I expect North Carolina’s batting lineup to look very similar, if not exactly the same.
While the Tar Heels coasted to victory over VCU and faced no adversity, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning en route to an 8-0 win. That was not the case on Saturday night, as the start of the game was a reciprocated experience for North Carolina, which fell behind 3-0 heading into the fourth inning.
“This team’s mature, they know we’ve played good teams all year, good midweek teams, and I’ve told them it’s about how we play, it’s not about the opponent,” Forbes said. “All of our focus has been on us, number one.”
With all that said, the Tar Heels’ projected batting lineup, in order, is Jake Schaffner, Gavin Gallaher, Owen Hull, Macon Winslow, Cooper Nicholson, Tyler Howe, Colin Hynek, Erik Paulsen, and Rom Kellis V.
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The NC Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Saturday, May 30, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 30 drawing
01-27-35-44-52, Powerball: 12, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 30 drawing
Day: 4-3-5, Fireball: 5
Evening: 8-3-5, Fireball: 6
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 30 drawing
Day: 6-6-7-3, Fireball: 6
Evening: 4-1-0-7, Fireball: 3
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 5 numbers from May 30 drawing
04-05-07-31-39
Check Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Double Play numbers from May 30 drawing
02-05-28-37-42
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 30 drawing
05-14-22-28-30, Bonus: 01
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All North Carolina Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599.
For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at North Carolina Lottery Offices. By mail, send a prize claim form, your signed lottery ticket, copies of a government-issued photo ID and social security card to: North Carolina Education Lottery, P.O. Box 41606, Raleigh, NC 27629. Prize claims less than $600 do not require copies of photo ID or a social security card.
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a prize claim form and deliver the form, along with your signed lottery ticket and government-issued photo ID and social security card to any of these locations:
- Asheville Regional Office & Claim Center: 16-G Regent Park Blvd., Asheville, NC 28806, 877-625-6886 press #1. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Greensboro Regional Office & Claim Center: 20A Oak Branch Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407, 877-625-6886 press #2. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Charlotte Regional Office & Claim Center: 5029-A West W. T. Harris Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28269-1861, 877-625-6886 press #3. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- NC Lottery Headquarters: Raleigh Claim Center & Regional Office, 2728 Capital Blvd., Suite 144, Raleigh, NC 27604, 877-625-6886 press #4. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
- Greenville Regional Office & Claim Center: 2790 Dickinson Avenue, Suite A, Greenville, NC 27834, 877-625-6886 press #5. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
- Wilmington Regional Office & Claim Center: 123 North Cardinal Drive Extension, Suite 140, Wilmington, NC 28405, 877-625-6886 press #6. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes up to $99,999.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at https://nclottery.com/.
When are the North Carolina Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
- Pick 3, 4: 3:00 p.m. and 11:22 p.m. daily.
- Cash 5: 11:22 p.m. daily.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Carolina Connect editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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