Christmas trees picked up in Hollister and San Juan Bautista
Hollister’s Boy Scouts are finishing their biggest fundraiser of
the year, the annual Christmas tree removal from local homes.
Residents wishing to have their trees picked up place them outside
and roving trucks staffed by scouts collect the holiday
greenery.
Christmas trees picked up in Hollister and San Juan Bautista
Hollister’s Boy Scouts are finishing their biggest fundraiser of the year, the annual Christmas tree removal from local homes. Residents wishing to have their trees picked up place them outside and roving trucks staffed by scouts collect the holiday greenery.
The boy scouts traveled in small groups with adult leaders and picked up trees Jan. 6 and 7. The main troop organizing this event was Hollister’s Troop 436. Troop 400 helped in Hollister, and Troop 428 in San Juan Bautista.
Several Venture Scouts from Venture Troop 400 helped out in Hollister. Venture Scouts is a coed group for teens 14 and older, who participate in many outdoor activities, said Venture Troop 400 Leader Jan Padrick.
The first day of the pickup is generally the busiest. The scouts picked up approximately 800 trees the first day of the collection and 350 the second, Brian Farney, treasurer for Troop 436, said.
Funds are raised through donations from households where trees were picked up. A donation of $7 per tree removed is suggested.
The funds raised from the event go to the troops who sent scouts out on the collection. Scouts who work the event all three days can qualify for up to $100 for a week-long summer camp – and family members who donate their time can earn money for a scout. Total camp costs, including room and board, are approximately $250, said Scoutmaster Doug Herring.
Some people choose to donate more to the scouts. Donations of $10 and $25 were received, said Joe Herring, Doug’s son.
Joe, 15, is a Scout who has participated in the fundraiser for four years.
“Many boys have their entire camp expenses funded by having family members (who are former Scouts) work with them,” Herring said.
Devin Farney, 23, and Dale Farney, 20, both Eagle Scouts, worked the event with their brother Tyler Farney, 15. The boys are the sons of Brian Farney.
“It’s a family tradition,” Devin Farney said. He has been participating for 12 years.
“Saturday was exhaustively busy,” Devin said, “Our truck picked up 10 loads of about 75 trees.”
The Boy Scouts requested that trees be placed outside by 9 a.m.
The sight of the boys driving by with trees in the trucks reminded people about the collection.
“Sometimes [people] see the truck with trees and flag us down to stop us,” Herring said.
“Occasionally we get calls from people in a panic who forgot to put their trees out,” committee chair Ronco Lien said.
The trucks will go through each neighborhood twice to make sure all the trees put out that day are picked up, Lien said.
As part of their community service the scouts also pick up trees abandoned on the side of the road, Herring said.
The tree removal is a service to the community as many people do not want to cut up their own Christmas trees, Herring said.
Trees must be cut into 2- to 4-foot pieces to be removed, said Hollister Waste Management District Manager John Delgado, for city waste disposal to pick them up.
The boys will make one more pass through Hollister this Saturday, Jan. 13. They will be joined by people from the Gerry Rawn Memorial Endowment. Gerry Rawn was a Scoutmaster for Troop 436 from 1986 to 1994. He started the fundraiser in 1988, said Mary Damm, former committee chair for Troop 436, and chair for San Benito District Boy Scouts.
The Endowment gives two scholarships a year, funded in part from money raised from participation in the tree collection. One goes to a boy currently in Troop 436 for his scouting needs and the other to a Troop 436 alum to further his education.
“The people (from the Endowment) who do it currently are all men [Rawn] was the Scoutmaster for, and their parents who worked with him in scouts, and parents grateful to him for working with their sons” Damm said.
The scouts choose a day that Rawn’s widow, Jeannie, and sons, Eric and Christopher, who all live in Fresno, can participate.
“It’s kind of like a reunion every year for alumni and parents,” Damm said.
For more information about the pickup, contact Jennifer Morcate at 638-8646.
Danielle Stolman can be contacted at [email protected].
