Wheat State’s Hello Central Winter 2015

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Use Skype on Your
TV for Family Chats
Sure, you can use your laptop for
Skype sessions with Grandma. But
there are big reasons to use the
biggest screen in your home—your
Internet-enabled smart TV—for
video chats instead.
Skype on your TV really is the next-
best thing to being there. You and
your family can relax on the sofa and
talk to a life-size image of Grandma,
and she’ll be able to see and hear
each of you. Unlike with a laptop,
family members won’t have to crowd
around a small screen to join the
conversation.
In addition to an Internet-enabled
smart TV, you’ll need the following:
• A broadband Internet connection
• A Skype account
• An all-in-one TV camera which
includes the Skype app
You can get complete details at
skype-for-tv.
A faster Internet speed can
enhance the quality and
performance of Skype calls.
Visit to
check out our Internet plans.
Cornerstone Group © 2015
Christmas trees go back more than two hundred years in the United
States, and their history includes real concerns about conservation
as well as artificial options. The National Christmas Tree Association
shares these highlights:
1800s – The Christmas tree was introduced in the United States by German settlers.
It rapidly grew from tabletop size to floor-to-ceiling.
1851 – Christmas trees began to be sold commercially in the United States. They were
taken at random from the forests.
1853 – Franklin Pierce is credited with bringing the first Christmas tree to theWhite House.
Late 1800s – The first glass ornaments were introduced into the United States, again
from Germany. The first ones were mostly balls, but later chains of balls, toys, and figures
became more common.
Around 1883 – Sears, Roebuck & Company began offering the first artificial Christmas
trees—33 limbs for $.50 and 55 limbs for $1.00.
1900s – Due to overharvesting, the natural supply of evergreens began to be decimated.
Conservationists became alarmed, and many magazines began to encourage people to sub-
stitute an artificial “snow” covered tree, consisting of a branch of a deciduous tree wrapped
in cotton.
1901 – The first Christmas tree farm was started in 1901 when W.V. McGalliard planted
25,000 Norway spruce on his farm in New Jersey. Also in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt tried to
stop the practice of having Christmas trees out of concern about the destruction of forests.
His two sons didn’t agree and enlisted the help of conservationist Gifford Pinchot to
persuade the president that, done properly, the practice was not harmful to the forests.
1966 – The National Christmas Tree Association began its time-honored tradition of hav-
ing the Grand Champion grower present a Christmas tree to the First Lady for display in the
Blue Room of the White House. That year, Howard Pierce of Black River Falls, Wisconsin,
presented a tree to President Lyndon Johnson and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson.
Today – Approximately 25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold each year in the United
States. Almost all of these come from Christmas tree plantations.
From Tabletop to Towering:
U.S. Christmas Tree History