The record-breaking lows didn’t stop Hollister’s Boy Scouts from
finishing the third day of their largest annual fundraiser Saturday
morning.
The record-breaking lows didn’t stop Hollister’s Boy Scouts from finishing the third day of their largest annual fundraiser Saturday morning.
The scouts came with parents, pickup trucks and even two horse trailers to Veterans Memorial Park just before 9am Saturday. The group met to finish the third day of its annual Christmas tree pickup, an event that took approximately 1,300 to 1,400 trees out of homes and off the streets of Hollister and San Juan Bautista, said Brian Farney, the treasurer for Troop 436. The suggested donation was $7 per tree, with some people giving up to $35 per tree, Farney said.
The money raised benefits Troop 436 of Hollister, Troop 428 of San Juan Bautista, Venture Troop 400 and the Gerry Rawn Endowment Fund.
Doug Herring, the leader of Troop 436, called the pickup a success, with 30 to 35 scouts participating each day.
“I think it went really well this year, from everything I saw,” Herring said. “It was the coldest Christmas tree pickup we’ve ever done.”
Herring warned the scouts and their parents about ice on the sidewalks before dispersing them on their routes.
But the cold did not matter to some scouts. Stephen Weber, a 16-year-old San Benito High student and senior patrol leader in Troop 436, said the hot chocolate for the scouts, coffee for the adults and moving around to get the blood going helped volunteers brave the cold.
For Weber, the fundraiser was a chance to see some friends and serve the community.
“It’s cool to be able to interact with the other guys and be part of the community in a way,” Weber said.
Although the event was a success, the number of trees collected has decreased from past years, Herring said. The first two days scouts collected 850 and 350 trees respectively, Herring said. In previous years, the scouts have collected 1,500 to 1,800 trees through the three-day drive.
“It’s gone down a little bit in the last couple of years because the artificial trees have gotten better,” Herring said. “There are less natural trees out there.”
The scouts mulched the trees on site, with materials going to Z-Best Fertilizer to use in its compost. Some of the chips were given to the city to use for ground cover in its parks.
“The city wants us to leave all the shavings there,” Farney said. “And they’ll spread it around.”
Troop 436 had a little help.
Jan Padrick, leader of Venture Troop 400, said she and five other Venture troops, who are over the age of 14, along with four parents, assisted Troop 436 in its tree pickup Saturday.
“We had the alumni there from 436 for the Gerry Rawn Fund,” Padrick said.
The Gerry Rawn Endowment Fund was founded in honor of Gerry Rawn, who started the Christmas tree pickup fundraiser in 1988. He passed away more than 10 years ago. The fund gives scholarships to two scouts per year, one to an older scout for college and another to a younger scout to cover the expense of general scout functions.
With the time volunteered, scouts can earn credit toward their stay at Camp Chawanakee, a weeklong camp held every summer in the Sierras near Fresno. Herring said the camp costs more than $250 and with their Christmas tree pickup service, a scout can earn up to $150 toward that cost.
“A scout’s supposed to pay his own way, and this is one of the ways he’ll do that,” Farney said of the tree pickup.
The camp lets scouts participate in activities and earn merit badges such as Horsemanship, Herring said.
“A lot of things that they can’t easily get down here,” he said.
Farney said that the fundraiser also brings all ages of scouts together.
“It also serves as a vehicle for our alumni to get together and still help out the troop,” He said.
Weber said it was good to see some familiar faces.
“It’s nice to have people that you’ve known, who have graduated out of scouts, come back and get to know them again,” he said.
And there was no shortage of adults, with 20 to 25 parents per day driving pickup routes, Herring said.
Padrick and Chet Hastings each brought horse trailers to haul the trees back to the park to be chipped.
“Kind of keeping with Hollister,” Padrick said of the use of a horse trailer.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or mv*********@fr***********.com.
