A time to gather trees

For Christmas trees picked up by local Boy Scouts, the last stop is the wood chipper at Gaiser Middle School. (Photos by Steven Lane/The Columbian)

Matthew Atkinson, 13, of Troop 315 drags a tree to the chipper. Between camping trips, uniforms, dues and other expenses, it costs a typical teen $400 a year to be a Boy Scout.

An overlooked ornament escaped the wood chipper Saturday.

Clark County’s Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts typically chip more than 20,000 trees each January.

Adult leader Eric Connelly of Troop 303 throws a Christmas tree to the wood chipper Saturday.

If you didn’t haul your Christmas tree to the curb in time for Saturday’s pickup by the local Boy Scout troops, it’s not too late.

Many troops collected fewer trees than usual this year, according to organizer Bill Fickett.

“I think that has to do with the date,” said Fickett. “In my house, our tree is still up.”

In Clark County, the scouts’ annual tree pickup fundraiser always falls on the first Saturday of the year.

Families who missed the scouts Saturday can still get their tree picked up today. But they’ll have to notify their local Scouting unit by telephone.

There should be a phone number on the flyers scouts distributed last month. If they’ve lost the flyer, a family can also call 360-397-6118, ext. 5050, and leave a message with their address.

Fickett said to call before 2 p.m. today, so he can pass the information to the proper unit before the recycling company closes at 4 p.m.

For each tree they haul to the recycler, the scouts ask for an optional $7 donation in an envelope with the tree, said Fickett, an assistant scoutmaster for Troop 479 of Family Christ Lutheran Church in Felida.

The service is available to any county resident who lives in an urban area or in the more populated rural areas south and west of Battle Ground.