Meet Our Family
John Chefas
John grew up in Chicago, Illinois and graduated from the University of Miami in Miami, Florida where he played baseball. He has been retailing Christmas trees since grade school. This city boy turned country started farming Christmas trees in the mid-1970s when he realized that the best way to ensure a quality product is to grow it yourself. When he moved the farming operation to Grassy Creek, NC in 1986 to grow Fraser firs, he fell in love with the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. After their children graduated from high school, John and his wife Kathy were excited to make Grassy Creek their forever home. When he can get away from the farm, John enjoys jogging, swimming, playing tennis, reading histories of the Civil War, and dreaming up new business ventures with his brother, Regas.
Carrie McClain
Carrie grew up in the Tampa Bay area. After serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Evanston, Illinois and working in government relations in Washington, DC (and a spring planting on the family farm), Carrie attended seminary at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. She met her husband Jeff in seminary and upon graduation, they moved to North Carolina so that Carrie could help in the family business. Carrie helps manage the farming operation and handles all of the sales and marketing. She also created a new product line called Little Saps. Shipped nationwide throughout the year, Little Saps provides gift trees for life’s big moments. Carrie serves on the Board of the Ashe County Christmas Tree Association and is a member of the Christmas Tree Promotion Board Promotions Committee. Carrie and Jeff have three children – Emma, Anne, and James.
Kathy Chefas
Kathy grew up in Kankakee, Illinois and worked in the travel industry until she met and married John in 1977 — and her Christmases changed forever. Kathy heads up our retail operations in southeast Florida which keeps her well-occupied year round, but especially October to December. Throughout the rest of the year, Kathy enjoys her work with various organizations in Ashe County, North Carolina. She is the President of Imagination Ashe which is an affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imaginary Library. Imagination Ashe provides free books to preschool-aged children in Ashe County. Kathy is also active with her local P.E.O. chapter, her church, the Ashe County Arts Council, and the Ashe County Public Library. She especially loves her role as “Nana” to her six grandchildren: Callie, Allison, Emma, Kate, Anne, and James.
Steve C.
Steven works in the financial services industry and is a Certified Arborist. He currently resides in Texas with his wife and three daughters. His fondest memory of Christmas is surprising his wife with a marriage proposal in a forest of Fraser Firs on one of the Christmas tree lots in Florida.