SANDPOINT — As city crews carefully manuevered the Christmas tree into place at Jeff Jones Town Square, fragrant whifts of pine danced in the cold November air.

Donated by Young Living Highland Flats research farm and distillery just up the highway from Naples, this year’s Christmas tree is a 30-foot grand fir. Farm manager Brett Packer and Travis Thompson drove the tree, valued at $300, to Sandpoint and stayed on hand to watch as it took its place of honor in the square.

The farm, which was started by a Challis, Idaho, resident, is a multi-billion dollar operation with offices all over the world because of the essential oils it extracts from the grand firs and blue spruces it grows in Boundary County.

Young Living reached out to the city to donate the tree because they wanted to get more involved in the community and share the beauty of the trees raised on the facility.

“I used to live in downtown Sandpoint,” Packer said. “I used to walk my German shephered past the town square every day.”

Thompson also has deep ties to the community and helped orchestrate not only the donation of the grand fir to the city for its Christmas tree, but also trees to the county, including a large one at the Bonner County Fairgrounds as well as trees at each of the county’s buildings.

“When we were asked to help, no hesitation, we said yes,” Thompson said. “I love this town. I love this whole area. I was born here and anything I can do to help the community, any chance I get, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Sandpoint is a great Christmas town that enjoys celebrating the holidays, Packer added, and they jumped at a chance to be a part of that.

“To be a part of that?,” Packer said. “Yeah, we love it.”

Most of the trees are chipped and the essential oils are extracted for sale. Grand firs are ideal for essential oils and are among the most aromatic trees in the world. As a result, trees raised at the facility are in huge demand throughout the world because of the essential oils it produces through the extraction process, the pair said.

“People from Malaysia, Hong Kong, all over the world just love this tree from North Idaho,” Packer said

The pair, who drove the tree down from the farm in Naples, stayed in town to watch city crews install it at the town square.

“It’s definitely sentimental,” Packer said. “I used to hang out and look at these lights with my German shepherd. It’s something for the fruture, a bridge to the future with the community and we had a surplus of these beautiful trees and we wanted to spread the knowledge a little bit, too.”

Groups will visit the Naples facility to observe the process from around the world, including Malaysia, Hong Kong and Germany.

“A lot of people pay to be a part of the process and people in Sandpoint don’t know who we are,” Packer said.

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.