It's a symbol of Christmas, and as of 2005, it's a symbol of gratitude. 

"Just tree farmers getting together and saying, 'hey, what can we do to thank these military people who are making all these sacrifices for us?' " said Romagnoli Christmas Tree Farm Owner Dewey Romagnoli.

Their idea is Trees for Troops, which donates Christmas trees to military families nationwide.

"That first year, they collected about 4,500 trees. Since then, they've opened it up to the public if anybody wants to donate trees," said Romagnoli.

The initiative allows farmers to donate more. This year, Romagnoli’s Christmas Tree Farm in Canastota sent 319 trees, surpassing its goal of 300.

"FedEx comes to pick them up. Normally they send a tractor trailer to fill up and send out. Well, we had so many trees, they sent two tractor trailers," said Romagnoli.

They're packing pines of joy.

"This is just our small way of saying thank you to these military folks that are doing their thing for us. It's not only the soldiers, sailors and airmen, but it's their families. They are actually having a lot of sacrifices also, so we're just trying to cheer up their Christmas season with a tree," said Romagnoli.