Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2010 / Ever wondered where we get all those palms?
Ever wondered where we get all those palms?
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published March 26, 2010
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Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic
Bill Beckman, manager of G.A. Fuchs Catholic bookstore in Madison Heights, distributes thousands of palms to area parishes in time for Palm Sunday. |
MADISON HEIGHTS — The palm you weave into a cross or tuck behind the crucifix in your kitchen has a long journey that probably started in Texas. In January.
With Palm Sunday this weekend, the vast majority of palms in churches in the Archdiocese of Detroit were ordered through either A. Mateja or G.A. Fuchs parish supply stores, in Garden City and Madison Heights. Their palms come from Palm Gardens, Inc., in Alamo, Texas, to the warehouse in their sister store in Saginaw, where they are then distributed to their other stores or shipped directly to the parishes.
And although parishes start placing their orders in January, the stores accommodate procrastinators, too: "We always order extra for the late walk-ins," said Fuchs store manager Bill Beckman.
The thousands of palms arrived from Texas early last week and were sorted out for distribution. At Fuchs and Mateja, the boxes of palms are stored in boxes of a thousand, lined up in upright coolers, to keep them fresh until parishes get ready for Palm Sunday and pick them up. Some churches also order fan-shaped palms for altar decoration.
Parish usually store palms in their garages, Beckman said, or in the fridge of their parish hall's kitchen, to keep them cool. And although Michiganders enjoy unseasonable warm weather this time of year, it's not good for the palms — they'll wilt and dry out if they're kept too warm for too long. Next year, Easter is later in the year, which means palm distributors have to act a bit faster to keep the palms fresh.
Beckman said palm sales give the business a nice boost this time of year. "Easter is right around the corner," he said. "There's more to it than palms — it's what we do. It's a good time of year."
Fuchs and Mateja also provide Catholic gifts and goods, and perform wood restoration, sell stained glass and statuary, and sell other church goods. Their motto is "Taking Care of God's House."
Palm Gardens, in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, is one of the largest suppliers of the Texana Sabal palm tree in the southwest, according to its Web site. The palm trees, native to the Rio Grande area, have grown on more than 200 acres of farmland since it was established in 1953.
The Texana Sabal palm withstands freezes well and grows to as tall as 40 feet. The blue-green, fan-shaped leaves form a thick, rounded crown.
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