East Bay Nursery first entered the Christmas business quite by chance. It was a typical, rainy, early December day in 1953; the nursery was all but deserted and the employees were sitting around playing Dominos, a popular game during the winter months. Gordon Courtright, the owner at the time, was away on vacation and the new Manager was in charge of the operation.

Shortly after lunch, a truck pulled up at the front of the store; the driver jumped out and ran for cover as it had been raining most of the day. Curious, the manager went out to see if he could be of assistance. A few minutes later, he returned to the store and told the few employees that remained to get their raincoats on "We've got a truck to unload".

 Three days later, Gordon returned from vacation to find that we were selling Christmas trees. By the end of the week, he was ordering a second truck load. The Dominos were put on the back shelf until after Christmas.

Over the years, we have seen many trends and fads come and go and even some return (the popularity of aluminum trees). The one feature that has continued to become more popular is the European blown glass ornaments. We have come to specialize in these beautiful art pieces, averaging 2500-3000 ornaments on display, each from a different mold.