Ken and Joan Hughes were inducted into the Christmas tree Wall of Fame in 2003. 

Owners of Homestead Christmas Tree Farms, Ken and Joan purchased a 240 Acre Woodlot in North River, Colchester County in 1961 and began developing a Christmas Tree Farm. Ken knew the business having been born and raised in New Ross where his family had been involved with trees. Married in Joan’s native Toronto in 1955, Ken’s wife received her introduction to “treeing” that very first year. They eventually started their own retail lot in Halifax by 1974, Supplied Gold Star at the wholesale level from 1979 to 1992 and in 1984 started their own U-Pick lot.

The Hughes are charter members of the Cobequid Christmas Tree Producers Association, where Joan has served as Secretary-Treasurer since the Inception in April 1983. Ken has held the Cobequid Presidency on numerous occasions. In addition Ken is a past president of the Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia, and still acts as a Cobequid representative to that body. A quote from Scott McEwan, a Christmas Tree Specialist with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, approximately summarizes the involvement of the Hughes: “They have always been most generous to sharing their considerable knowledge and experience about the industry.” Ken and Joan Hughes, Nova Scotia builders.