Molly Shore
When the Beach Boys sang "Be True to Your School," Gary Casella
must have been listening.
For the past 14 years, Casella, a 1956 graduate of Burbank High
School, has donated more than $129,000 in scholarships and gifts to
his alma mater. In return, school administrators allowed Casella to
set up his yearly Christmas tree lot on the northern end of the
school's athletic field.
"We're a complete Christmas tree operation here. We flock, we
flame-proof, we deliver," Casella said.
Every year, members of the school's baseball teams have holiday
jobs at Casella's lot. They get $200 for unloading trees from each
trailer, he said.
Each trailer contains 650 trees, and some trees are so large it
takes five team members to move them onto the lot, said Ramiro Ruiz,
the junior varsity baseball captain.
"It's dirty work, but it's fun, too," said Ramiro, 15.
The money goes to the school's athletic department for infield
grass and baseball equipment, Ramiro said. He and other team members
earn service hours, a requirement for graduation.
Noble fir trees reign supreme at Casella's Christmas tree lot.
Whether growing in the wild or on huge Christmas tree farms in the
Pacific Northwest, the Noble fir is at the top of the list for his
commercial and resi- dential customers, Casella said.
A 5- to 6-foot Noble fir costs $59.95, while 7- to 8-foot Nobles
go for $84.95. For 35 years, the Casella family has been in the
Christmas tree business, an offshoot of their wholesale and retail
produce business, originally in Glendale.
Adolph Noce, 83, a Glendale resident, lived near the family
business and has worked with the Casellas for 34 years.
"I like working here. It's a lot of fun and I meet people I
haven't seen all year," Noce said. "I met mothers with their kids.
Now their kids are driving up with their kids."
