After a busy season of slinging pops around Richmond, Paul Cassimus is trading his fleet of popsicle carts and colorful umbrellas for elf hats and Christmas trees. Cassimus, the owner of King of Pops Richmond, and a band of real live elves are once again bringing magic to the holidays. An offshoot of the ever-expanding King of Pops business model, Tree Elves is a Christmas Tree delivery and setup service by elves who joyfully go about their work in your home.

The idea for Tree Elves was originally hatched by Nick and Steven Carse, founders of King of Pops in Atlanta. The fun loving entrepreneurs had just finished a long season of selling pops in the hot Atlanta sun and were taking a break from the action in Los Angeles. A chance meeting with a surfer elf named Tinsel carrying a potted Christmas tree gave the duo an idea of what to do with their idle winter ahead. The plan worked and the King of Pops business model grew to include the tree delivery program as a way for its founders to hire their friends for more work and at the same time inch closer to their long-term goal of running a farm. Today, the Tree Elves concept has taken off and the service is now offered in Atlanta, Charleston, Charlotte, Greenville, Nashville, and Richmond.

Here in RVA, we have Cassimus to thank for carrying on the Tree Elves tradition. All of the trees delivered by Tree Elves are Fraser Firs (5-9ft) from Cheek Brothers Tree Farm in West Jefferson, NC. The tree delivery program offers a Complete Kit, which comes with a pack of pops, a tree setup service by elves, and a tree stand. The elves then return after the holidays to retrieve the stand and the tree as part of their treecycle package. Best of all, the Tree Elves compost the tree at either the King of Crops farm or a local farm. The masterminds behind the Tree Elves program then use the treecycling process to help grow organic fruit for future pops.

To make a holiday memory this year with your local elves, visit treeelves.net.