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Boy Scouts begin annual benevolent business venture |
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Thursday, 11 December 2008 |
 Parents, volunteers and scouts from Troop 86 took a break from cutting Christmas trees for this photo Saturday at Sweetwater Summit. The sale is the Bishop scouts’ only fundraiser. Photo submitted By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
12-9-2008 Bishop Boy Scouts are selling Christmas trees again this year through a cooperative effort that not only benefits local youth, but also area wildlife.
Residents considering getting their pinyons from Troop 86 and pitching in to its fundraising effort are advised to act fast as the trees may sell out soon.
Duane Ono, assistant scout master, said Monday that the Scouts had sold more than half of their stock of 250 pinyons the first day of business on Sunday.
Ono said last year, the club sold out of fresh cut Christmas trees in its first week.
This is the only fundraiser for the scouts, Ono explained, and the fifth consecutive year the scouts will be selling Christmas trees at the scout house on West Line Street next to Richard’s Furniture.
The Bishop scouts have been selling trees for years, but locations have been difficult to secure.
Volunteers cut trees at Sweetwater Summit, east of Bridgeport and just inside the Nevada border in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Ono explained that the Scouts are actually helping to improve sage grouse habitat by thinning selected areas of pinyons. The Scouts are working with the Forest Service to clear certain areas for sage grouse.
The clearing would otherwise be done by Forest Service personnel, so the tree cutting is a “win-win situation” for both organizations, according to Ono.
It’s actually a “win-win-win.”
The Forest Service is saving money by not having to cut the trees themselves, the Scouts get to raise some money and the sage grouse are getting an improved habitat.
The cutting went on all day Saturday, according to Danise Grindle who, along with her husband Rock Grindle, owns R.E. Grindle Trucking and assisted in transporting the trees back to Bishop.
Grindle said the cut trees were shuttled down to their big rig from the remote area in the trucks of parents, businesses and volunteers and in a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power truck.
The use of the LADWP truck was obtained thanks to Scout parent and LADWP employee Wade Taylor.
Ono said he commended the LADWP for the use of that truck and for all its contributions and donations to area organizations.
“The Grindles saved the day,” Ono admitted, saying that most of the trees were able to fit in their big rig.
Ono added Monday that there are still about 130 trees left for sale, all for $20 a piece no matter the size.
He said the flat rate is a way to help out the community.
“You probably couldn’t cut it and drag it down yourself for that price,” he said.
The trees are for sale at the Scout House on West Line Street between the Window Fair Custom Draperies and Richard’s Moving and Storage. Trees can be purchased from 1:30-8 p.m. Mon.-Fri. or 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on weekends, if they last until next weekend.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 January 2009 )
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