“John Deere Only” Christmas Tree

“John Deere Only” Christmas Tree FARM HOME Miscellaneous Fran Wranosky’s interest in anything John Deere and his wife Debbie’s love for Christmas are obvious at the holidays They have an artificial 7 1/2-ft tree filled with 350 John Deere ornaments and topped with a tractor “star ” That’s not all; the branches of another small tree in the breezeway are loaded with mini JD ornaments surrounded by JD collectables decorated for the holidays     “I love Christmas ” Debbie Wranosky says “Collecting John Deere ornaments was a way to share in Fran’s interest and it has been fun ”     The ornaments are not that old late 1980s to present but they can be valuable such as the Medallion series John Deere started in 1996 Those don’t even get on the tree Wranosky says But she has plenty of other treasures to hang     “My favorite is a bike because it’s just so cool ” she says “It’s about 9 in long and just something different ” She also likes her collection of 25 lunch boxes complete with latches that open and the large glass ball ornaments hand-painted by a California artist     Wranosky got the idea to surprise her husband with a Deere tree in 2006 when he was having health issues She had ornaments delivered where she worked and decorated a small 6-ft pencil tree the first year     After that the couple shopped for more ornaments at flea markets and auctions When a larger 6 1/2-ft tree filled up they bought their third and current tree     “He’ll sit and look at the different ornaments and talk about where we picked them up ” Wranosky says Through trial and error she’s learned plain white lights on the tree are best to show off the green and yellow ornaments     Each year she adds new ornaments sold by Hallmark and Enesco buys the new medallion from John Deere and watches for ornaments on eBay Fran occasionally also finds ornaments in Green Magazine     The tree goes up right after Thanksgiving and stays up until the end of January Wranosky packs each ornament in the box it came in and stores the collection in half a dozen totes     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Fran and Debbie Wranosky Oconto Falls Wis 54154 ph 920 846-3103; fjwdjw@yahoo com

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