October 10, 2021
One of the South Burnett’s most unusual businesses held a very unusual event on Saturday, and it helped raise a large Christmas donation for RACQ LifeFlight.
On Saturday, Chrissy Trees 4 U on Chris and Debbie Bunker’s mixed farming property at Benair threw open its gates for its inaugural Paint A Bale Competition.
Guests at this quirky event could pre-buy a hay bale for $50 (or $50 per bale for more than one, if they wanted to go bigger) and then paint and decorate it however they liked.
Most people who took part accomplished the task of creating their personal hay bale masterpiece in 30 to 90 minutes, using spray paint and a few accessories to complete the job.
After this, non-painting guests could cast their vote for the best entry for just $1 a ticket – a tough choice to make among more than 30 highly creative entries that ranged from Christmas themes to a painted BaconFest pig.
Guests could also browse their way through 20 market stalls selling everything from food and drinks to more exotic lines.
Or they could take a stroll through Chris and Debbie’s brightly lit Christmas Store, which now holds arguably the biggest collection of Christmas decorations found under one roof anywhere in the South Burnett.
Debbie said the couple wanted to hold the fundraiser for RACQ LifeFlight because they were grateful for the service the rescue helicopter provides.
And the idea for the Paint A Bale competition was something they decided to try because they hadn’t seen one run locally before and it fitted in neatly with their farming operations.
The farm was able to supply the unpainted bales and afterwards the bales could be used to feed the three reindeers the couple keep on the farm as pets.
The reindeers eat the bales from the inside out, so they attack any unpainted part and ignore anything that had been painted, leaving minimal waste to clean up afterwards.
Chris said the event had also been timed to start just before the Christmas season gets under way, when the couple are kept flat out supplying hundreds of cut Christmas trees to customers all over south-east Queensland.
Chrissy Trees 4 U began in 2009 when Debbie was looking for a way to expand the farm beyond its traditional duboisia and cattle operations.
She hit on the idea of growing radiata pine seedlings, and within a year had begun selling them to nurseries.
In 2013, the couple decided to expand further into cut Christmas trees and today – eight years later – they supply the trees to a large swathe of customers in a 300km radius around their farm every December.
Customers can even come to the farm on two special weekends set aside each November to choose the tree they want, then come back in December to pick it up.
Alternately, Chris and Debbie can arrange delivery to a network of drop-off locations they’ve established for the business in Brisbane, Toowoomba and Caboolture.
The couple have also set up a website to process online orders, and last year expanded their operations a little further by opening an on-farm Christmas Store devoted to unusual and beautiful Christmas decorations.
On Monday, Debbie told southburnett.com.au the Paint A Bale competition had raised $3600 for LifeFlight.
And because of the enthusiastic reception the event received, the couple are now considering making the Paint A Bale day an annual event.
In the meantime – if you’re looking for a genuine pine Christmas tree or Yuletide decorations – Chrissy Trees 4 U and the on-farm Christmas Shop will be open from 9:00am to 4:00pm daily from November 6 until December 19.
- Related article: Debbie’s Special Christmas Crop
