1. real estate

Gue st E s s a y
Story and Photography By Susan McConnell
Tom Hager renews a Barrington holiday tradition each November.
A Barrington
Christmas Tradition
E
very year, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Tom Hager
is joined by his friends for a holiday gathering of a different sort. Donned
in jeans, down jackets, and work gloves, Hager and his friends use their
strength and tenderness to unload the Christmas trees that will soon be placed in
our homes.
“I take a look at each tree and can almost tell which family is going to pick that
one,” Hager says. “We’ve been Barrington’s go-to place for Christmas trees for years,
and I feel honored about that.” Hager, who has lived in Barrington his entire life
and attended Barrington High School, looks forward to seeing his classmates when
the trees arrive. He invites a close-knit group of people he knows to help on this
special day.
Tom Hager opened his main street business in 1980. Yet, the Hager names goes
way back in Barrington time, as does this present day family tradition of unloading
the neatly packaged trees. “Our Barrington roots go back six generations,” Hager
says of a family history that helped build Barrington. His forebearers settled here,
built the first bank (Barrington State Bank, which closed in 1933 due to the Great
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Quintessential Barrington | QB ar r ing ton .com
Above: Jim Root helps out each year when the trees are delivered.
Dr. David J. Tabak
has moved his Barrington Optometric Practice
to 530 N. Hough Street
in the Shops at Flint Creek in Barrington.
Many of Tom Hager’s Barrington High School classmates return each season to
help unload the truck full of fresh trees.
Depression), and ran the ever-important lumberyards. Today, Hager
focuses on seasonal items for the home and barn, including the Christmas
trees and greenery, firewood, animal supplies such as straw, and come
spring, mulch, and flowers. For nearby BHS students who pass by after
Dr. Tabak’s new office has a large data collection
room to house his diagnostic equipment including
a new optical coherence tonography (OCT)
scanner. OCT provides a 3-D, high definition image
of the internal structures of a patient’s eye to assist
in the diagnosis and management of many eye
diseases. The new office features a contact lens
area to accommodate today’s ever increasing
variety of contact lenses and an optical dispensary
with over 600 eyeglass frames on display.
David J. Tabak, OD
847-382-2020 | davidtabakod.com
school, a 50 cent Coke machine is a bargain.
BHS classmate Amy Bash, who has lived here forever, recalls Hager’s
personal touch. “Tom keeps track, and if we haven’t picked up our tree yet,
he’ll call and ask when we’re coming over,” she says. “I wouldn’t dream of
having our Christmas tree come from any other place.”
Hager talks about the tradition that some families enjoy at his business.
The child whose turn it is to chose the family Christmas tree also gets
Ambrosia
E u r o
A m e r i c a n
P a t i s s e r i e
2 5 Ye a r s o f C l a s s i c P a s t r y M a k i n g
an ornament made with their name on it. A small section of the base of
the tree is cut off and taken home. The tree trunk round is sanded down,
decorated with that child’s name and the year, and then finished with
Shellac. (Hager urges all tree buyers to get their tree in water as quickly as
possible, especially if it was newly trimmed for the ornament.)
“It is truly a tradition when you meet the kids of the kids who have
shopped here years ago when they were young,” Hager says of the people
who keep coming back.
Friend and helper Jim Root has also been part of the Hager tradition.
“Tom was one of the first locals we met when we moved here 27 years ago,”
Root said. “I look forward to seeing everyone at this event and I wouldn’t
miss it for the world.”
Hager’s
Country
Market
is
located at 344 West Main Street in
Barrington (at Lageschulte Street
and Main). The telephone number is
847-381-0699.
Susan McConnell is a frequent contributor to Quintessential Barrington.
You’re invited to experience the magic of
gingerbread season at Ambrosia Patisserie!
Hours:
Wed ~ Fri • 7 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat • 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.,
Sun • 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. Closed Mondays & Tuesdays
847.304.8278
710 W. Northwest Highway • Barrington • Illinois • www.discoverambrosia.com
QB ar r ing ton .com | Quintessential Barrington • 45