How did Jay Hickey come to own the Christmas tree farm in Epsom, New Hampshire?

Jay Hickey said in a 2013 TV interview that, after military service, he drove unfamiliar roads, found the Epsom farm and felt it was home. The owner put him on a waiting list of eight or ten buyers. About a year later an inner voice told him to call; everyone ahead had backed out, and he agreed to buy without knowing the price. Hours later an earlier buyer called back, too late.

• Jay credited the voice of his "high self", a meditation practice learned from his grandmother Isabel Hickey.
• Jay had served as a medic in Germany after being granted conscientious objector status in the Vietnam era.

▸In their words

“As soon as I saw it, I felt like I wanted to be there, that it was my home.” Jay Hickey · at 14:06 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Bear Brook (2026-10-28). Read the whole episode summary →

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