It's Christmas in January on the North Fork

Haven't taken down the Christmas tree yet? Join the club. A drive around town in the early evening as twilight sets in indicates quite a few North Fork homeowners still have their trees up, some still shimmering in the front windows.

Some say this is the best time to enjoy the tree — with the company gone, winter setting in and the house quiet, the warm glow of the tree beckons a relaxing night in the living room with a glass of brandy.

“It’s amazing,” said Mattituck resident and local architect Bob Brenner, speaking about his Christmas tree which he put up on Dec. 23. “It isn’t drooping or anything. The needles are not falling off.” 

Brenner said he is watering his tree faithfully, hopes to keep it up as long as he can and is waiting for family members to converge at his house to see his tree.

“I’m having a hard time getting them together, so the tree may be up until Martin Luther King Day,” he said.

This year, Brenner, a last-minute shopper, got a free Christmas tree when he headed over to on Route 25 in Aquebogue two days before Christmas.

“I guess you could say I am really getting my money’s worth,” Brenner said.

“I took my tree down the day after New Year’s,” said Southold resident and author Bertrice Small. “I got up early and got it done so I could get back to work.”

Small had been sitting it out for a few years, foregoing a tree for a few pointsettas and a display of her collection of Santa Claus figures.

“I broke down and got a tree this year when I found boxes of unopened ornaments that I bought and never used," she said. 

Usually one to leave her tree up until around this time in January, Small said that this year, she just wanted to get it over and done with.

"I didn't want the chore of taking down the tree hanging over my head for another week," she said, adding that she disposes of her tree by breaking it down and using it for mulch in her garden.

Coordinator James Bunchuck said that the town's landfill also accepts washed-up Christmas trees.

“Disposal is free if you have a permit," he said. "If not, it will cost you $5"

Southold Town does not have a-town wide curb-side Christmas tree removal program, but Bunchuck said that recycling your tree on your own property by dragging it into the woods or chopping it up is always a good option for disposal.

“The town does not control this on private property,” he said.

Private local carters like Go Green Sanitation also provide a tree-removal service.

“We pick them up for free for our customers,” said Frank Fischer of Go Green. “All they have to do is leave them outside near the trash cans and we will get rid of them.”

Fisher said he starts to get busy with Christmas tree disposals towards the middle of January.

“We aren’t getting that many yet," he said. "A lot of people keep their trees up for a while."