Alexandra Felton
Staff Writer
Local residents can enjoy tractor sleigh rides, tour the historic orange groves and pick out their perfect Christmas tree from at La Verne’s Heritage Park through Dec. 24.
The owner of Our Family Tree, David Liebhart, and his father Kelly Liebhart became the Christmas tree distributors for Heritage Park after the Molina’s passed the torch.
“Mark and Robin Molina ran the events here for a long time, but decided to pause distribution,” Kelly Liebhart said.
“I worked for the Molinas on the farm, so when they paused distribution for three or four years, I asked if I could take over and they said yes,” David Liebhart said.
Since then, the two men have kept up the rustic, local traditions of the farm.
When walking through the farmhouse, there are lovely little assortments of sauces and marmalades with most flavors represented as apple cinnamon, triple citrus marmalade and four berry preserve. There were assorted olives for sale and note cards as well for the buyers near the register within the open-air building.
When asked more about the area, Kelly Liebhart gave a small insightful tour of the location.
“Everything here is donated by the La Verne Heritage Foundation and volunteers are what make this place thrive,” Kelly Liebhart said.
Kelly Liebhart continued by talking about the involvement they have with local schools and their field trips to the farm. Children are able to pick their own oranges with a genuine picker, get to juice their possessions and possibly even see baby chicks and hatching eggs.
He also brought up the placards located around the farm by explaining that they were an Eagle Scout’s preservation project that explained certain historical farm equipment and locations.
“The best part about the holiday season here is the little kids and families that come through and the exciting tractor ride,” David Liebhart said.
Junior communications major Christian Pina went to the park to look at the trees.
“I heard about this place on Yelp and plan to take my family up here, especially in time for the snow they’ll blow next Saturday,” Pina said.
Heritage Park is located at 4001 Via de Mansion in La Verne.
For more information about the La Verne Heritage Foundation and its annual events, visit laverneheritage.org.
Alexandra Felton can be reached at alexandra.felton@laverne.edu.
Alexandra Felton
