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Christmas tree season takes root

Rotary Club of Prince Rupert’s annual sale opens Dec. 4
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Members of the Prince Minor Hockey League, Noah Bomben and Jared McMillan, assist with unloading conifers for the 2020 annual Prince Rupert Rotary Christmas tree sale.

Christmas trees will adorn the basketball courts on McBride for the 2021 Rotary Club of Prince Rupert annual sale, starting on Dec. 4.

Rotarians, with the help of the Prince Rupert Minor Hockey Association, will unload 320 fragrant evergreens in the evening of Dec. 3 into the 6th Ave. and McBride St. corner.

Money raised at the Christmas tree sale contributes funds to the major projects Rotary Club supports in the community, Chris Bromley, chairman of the Christmas tree committee, told The Northern View.

“That can be from the upkeep of the Rushbrook Trail to the breakfast program at the schools, the Coats for Kids via the Lutheran church [and] all sorts of projects,” Bromley said. “Everything goes to within the community.”

The tree sale is entirely volunteer-run and supported by local businesses such as Bandstra Transportations, which provides the truck to ship trees from Terrace, and Coastal Propane which provides the fuel used for the outdoor heaters to keep volunteers warm. Volunteers cover the sale in rotating two-hour shifts throughout the month until trees are sold out.

For the last 10 years, Bromley said the Christmas tree sale brings the community together.

“It’s actually a fun project to do for the community. When you see families come in and the little kids run around the parking lot looking at all the different trees and dragging their mom and dad around saying ‘let’s look at this one let’s look at that one.’ It’s fun to see their faces, big smiles on their face when they walk out with one,” he said.

Prince Rupert Rotary has been selling Christmas trees to city residents for more than 30 years which started when they would harvest their own from Ridley Island through a silver culture program.

The fresh-cut trees will be available for purchase from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.