The history of Alf & Jean’s Upick
Alfred and Jean Scothorn in front of the cabin at Alf & Jean’s Upick.
In the early 1950’s dairy farmer Alfred Scothorn purchased a woodlot. When Hurricane Edna hit Nova Scotia in 1954, a large area of the tree lot was uprooted, and Alfred decided to replant the area with balsam fir Christmas trees. He eventually expanded and developed this into a wholesale tree farm.
In 1975, Alfred retired and sold both his dairy farm and the tree farm to his sons. In 1980 Alfred wanted a project, so he and his wife Jean started the Upick Christmas tree business next to the wholesale Christmas tree operation. Fifteen years later they sold the Upick business to their sons, and retired for good. Alf & Jean continued to make many welcomed appearances at the Upick over the years.
In 2004, the reins of both the dairy farm and tree farm were sold to the next generation, three of Alf & Jean’s grandsons.
Alfred passed away in 2011 at the age of 83, after 62 happy years of marriage to Jean. In 2019 Jean passed away at the age of 89. Their far-reaching legacy in the community lives on through the Christmas tree business they dearly loved, and through their large family, including 14 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren (as of 2019.)
Since 2022, Alf & Jean’s Upick and Scothorn Farms Ltd. are operated by co-owners Jason Scothorn and his new business partners Logan Vroegh, Mike Archibald, and Frank Schenkels. They continue offering Upick Christmas trees to the local community, as well as wholesale Christmas trees to select local clients. Scothorn Farms Ltd. is one of Nova Scotia’s largest dairy farms.
Late founder Alfred Scothorn and employee Dorothy Roode posing in the tree lot in 2010.