WINGATE — Hayne Haigler, feed manager at Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, was browsing the isles at the local Food Lion looking for something to make for dinner when he saw a lady he knew.
“Have you seen that Christmas tree lit up on ‘74? That thing is huge!” she said to him.
Little did the lady know that Haigler was one of the men responsible for erecting the tree.
The tree in question is 50 feet tall with a diameter of 80 feet at the base and rests atop of a 120-foot-tall mill tower. That’s a total of 170 feet off the ground. The tree is adorned with more than 4,200 lights, making it easy to spot off the highway for miles around.
This is the second year in a row a tree has been put up.
“Last year, the tree was not quite as big or as sturdy as it is now and it didn’t have enough power for all of the lights we put on it,” Haigler said. “We worked on it all summer and it’s pretty rock solid now.”
Fabricator Chris Darrelle made the tree.
“He went to war with it,” said Haigler. “Chris can weld anything. He’s one of those types of men who you don’t tell him what to do, you tell him what you want. I swear, he could weld two beer cans together.”
“We can’t go door to door to wish everyone a happy holidays, so instead we put up this tree,” said Cliff Lee, live operation manager. “This mill feeds about 8 to 900 chicken houses. They all go to Marshville. We take care of a lot of family farms. A lot rides on our shoulders.”
“We encourage our people here to have pride in everything they do,” said Haigler. “We’re hoping to get in a competition with Tyson Mill. They have a 10 foot tree. I’ve known the manager there for years. I’m sure they’ll pick up on it.”
Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is located at 205 Edgewood Dr., Wingate, NC 28174. The Christmas tree will be up until after New Year’s, at which point the tree will be replaced with the 10×15-foot flag they have flying for most of the year. The Christmas tree can be visible after nightfall off of I-74.