Greensburg Garden Center's greens sale is a holiday tradition

On the ground floor of the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, there’s a room stocked floor to ceiling with holiday decor items, from artificial trees and glittering bulbs to colorful ribbons and bows. From this work space, members of the Greensburg Garden Center craft one-of-a-kind items to sell at the group’s annual Christmas sale.

The treasure trove has been accumulated through decades of annual sales. Many items are donated and others are sourced from thrift stores, estate sales and end-of-season or going-out-of-business sales at retail outlets.

This year’s sale is planned for 3-7 p.m. Dec. 6 and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 7 at the center, 951 Old Salem Road.

The tabletop-sized trees are decorated individually by center members, says president Carla Rusnica, so every buyer should find something compatible with their decorating aesthetic.

“These girls are so talented, and everyone has a different taste and style,” she says.

In addition to the trees, the center will offer an array of fresh greens in the form of swags, fir wreaths, pine roping, candle rings and the center’s signature kissing balls. There also will be greens-filled baskets accented with colorful bows and bundles of red twig dogwood and curly willow.

So many pine cones have been donated that those also will be sold by the bag.

Shoppers also can enter a raffle for a 3-foot lighted and decorated tree, with the winner to be selected Dec. 10.

New this year

New this year will be decorative items made from recycled bed springs turned into whimsical Santa, snowman and other figures. Members also have created other decorations suitable for tabletop or shelf, many of which feature small woodland creatures.

If you’re looking for something with the popular buffalo check pattern, Rusnica says, you’ll find it in garlands and bows on the trees and wreaths. Rustic wooden items also are on trend, and the sale will feature birch branches hung with ornaments and snowmen crafted from small wood rounds.

If you have a vision for a particular item, “we can customize, within reason,” Rusnica says. “If you say, ‘I need something blue to go on my tree,’ we may be able to create something for you.”

Customizable elements include ribbons, bows and ornaments.

Members will be working at the garden center every day beginning Dec. 2 until the sale dates. Prospective buyers can make appointments to come in and discuss a special order by calling 724-837-0245.

Rusnica says she isn’t sure when the garden center first began its Christmas sales, but some current members have been involved for at least 40 years.

“The ladies who were here when I started mentored me,” she says. “They taught me the tricks of the trade, how to wrap everything so it stays together. We want to sell a quality product — we don’t want your tree to fall apart when you get it home.”