It's not Christmas without the tree
<p>Mary Tappen, right, receives candy canes as a thank you gift from Marian Barker after purchasing a Christmas tree Monday from Tappen's lot in Coeur d'Alene.</p>
<p>Mary Tappen has helped a number of people this year who haven't been able to afford a Christmas tree by either giving discounts or offering small trees for families to take home.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Mary Tappen loves some very specific things with total certainty.
She loves the holidays. She loves children, and God.
And she loves trees.
"I've been around Christmas trees since the time I could walk. My dad had me help drag them through the snow," remembered Tappen with her perpetual rosy-cheeked smile, as she stood by her Christmas tree lot on Government Way on Monday.
Tappen wants everyone to have a tree, she said.
That's why this season, as she has throughout her decades of selling native North Idaho pines and firs in a Coeur d'Alene lot, she has been letting folks pack trees into their cars free of charge, when their stories really tug her heartstrings.
"They come in and say, 'All we've got is $5,'" the 67-year-old said, shaking her head. "There's a much bigger need (than previous years). The economy is so bad."
Only a few inches taller than the children who come to look through the wood stands, the 5-foot-3 Tappen has given away a dozen trees so far "at least," she said, though she's not really counting.
She gives away tiny trees to kids, too, she said, for them to brighten up their bedrooms.
"It's better than a candy cane," she said.
Some cry when she gives them a tree, she said. All of them give her a hug.
And folks she gifted in the past don't forget the gesture.
"At times I've been out to dinner and someone comes up and says, 'You gave me a tree last year. I want to buy your dinner,'" Tappen said.
The North Idaho native has run a tree lot in Coeur d'Alene for 45 years, she said, sometimes at her own home, usually along Government Way, never missing a Christmas.
It has always been a side business to her work as a "domestic engineer," she said, adding that her five children have often pitched in with hauling trees over the years.
Tappen just sees a Christmas tree as a way to help folks remember the Lord, she said, which she doesn't want anyone to go without.
Giving away some trees only improves her business, she added.
"I think if we're good, God is very good to us," Tappen said.
Marian Barker drove all the way from Wallace on Monday afternoon to pick a tree from Tappen's lot.
Last year, when Barker had been in a tizzy to find a last-minute tree after the birth of her first grandchild, Tappen's was the only lot that could accommodate her, she explained.
"I'm just happy to get my tree from here," Barker said as she examined a pine.
She has a little bit of Tappen in her, revealing that she prefers live Christmas trees because of the fresh smell, and the joy of hanging her children's hand-made ornaments.
Barker wouldn't need to be given the tree, she added, but she's glad that Tappen does that for others.
"It makes me more glad to buy my tree here," she said.
Once Barker's tree was loaded up, she slipped Tappen a candy cane in thanks.
"Remember the Lord," Tappen called out as Barker got into her car.
"I will certainly," Barker replied. "That's what Christmas is all about."