Every year the N.C. State Fair thrills people of all ages and backgrounds from across the state for 11 exciting days. Fairgoers get the chance to enjoy exciting rides and delicious new foods. The State Fair is also a time to celebrate N.C. agriculture and the hardworking families who make it our state’s leading industry.
Farm Family of the Day, sponsored by Tractor Supply Co., is a program that recognizes one standout farm family each day of the N.C. State Fair. To honor these families’ accomplishments and contributions to North Carolina agriculture, they are awarded tickets to attend the fair on a day of their choosing, where they will be recognized through PA announcements and signs on the fairgrounds.
Sanderson Farming and Sanderson Wreaths & Garland is a dedicated fourth generation family farm, located in Wayne County, N.C. The Sanderson family operation consists of 1,000 acres of corn, wheat and soybeans. In addition to the row crops, the family grows Murray cypress, magnolia, eucalyptus and thuja green giant trees to make wreaths each year.
The farm began over 100 years ago when Kenneth Sanderson’s grandfather built his house on the land in 1926 and farmed it until the mid-1970’s. During that time, Kenneth’s father would attend NC State University, and after serving in the army he would take up work managing a tobacco research farm. Finally, his father would come home to help his grandfather and around the same time Kenneth would continue the family tradition and his own farming operation including growing Christmas trees with his wife Vickey.
“We have a love for the land, all of my children grew up on the land and in the tobacco fields, both the boys and the girls,” Kenneth said.
The passion for farming has passed down to the newest generations too, with Kenneth’s son Matt farming with him for the past 20 years and even getting his son interested and involved on the farm.
“We like the rural lifestyle, raising our children and grandchildren,” Kenneth said. “But we just have a tie to the land and wish parts of it on to the next generation.”
When it’s time for wreath season in the fall and winter, the whole family gets involved in the operation, parents, children and grandchildren. In 1991, when one of the family’s trees cedar trees won the N.C. Christmas Tree Contest the entire family packed into the car and drove cross-country to California to compete in the National Christmas Tree Contest.
When the decision was made to primarily make wreaths, they decided to stop selling trees and grow them to create wreaths. Through the years of farming, the family has expanded their farm in some other quite innovative ways. One of the most prominent of which was the idea to make wreaths not only out of tree leaves and limbs, but corn shucks too.
“We like to make them because we can go behind the combine picking the shucks up, lay the pieces out and dry them.” Kenneth said. “When a real wreath will die, a corn shuck one will already be dried out and still look good year-round.”
For the Sanderson family, farming truly is a part of their lifestyle, and not something that they see going away anytime soon. From practicing good conservation when taking care of the land, or leaving the land better than they found it for future generations, it’s all about taking pride in the land and what they do.
The pride the family has in their farm spreads across communities too. The family does this through supporting not just the local community they are a part of, but also by participating in soil plot tests to help advance research in agriculture across the state. For the Sanderson’s, the idea of “better together” is a core principle.
As this year’s wreath season is getting underway, the family is looking forward to a break and the fun memories that are made each year at the N.C. State Fair. Some of Kenneth’s fondest memories include going to the fair with his own grandfather in their 1949 Chevrolet truck, bringing the sweet potatoes they grew to trade for apples with farmers from the mountains. “It was kind of a ragged truck,” Kenneth laughed, “but we would ride in it up to the State Fair and then take tobacco down to Lumberton in it.”
Last but certainly not least, congratulations to Sanderson Farming and Sanderson Wreaths & Garland!
