The evergreen tree is a familiar symbol of celebration that unites much of the world during the Christmas season. The brightly decorated trees, such as spruce, fir and pine, grace the homes of millions of people during the holidays.
To ensure people in Yellowknife can share in the joy of placing one of those fragrant, tall trees in their living rooms, the Yellowknife Scouting Group preserved the tradition of bringing in a truckload of fir and spruce from southern Canada — a tradition that the late Barb Bromley started when her son, Bob, a former Yellowknife MLA, was around five or six years of age, said Mike Kalnay, a Scout leader volunteering with the annual tree sale.
“We bring in 400 trees and if we sell them all, we will raise enough money to run our scouting program for the year,” Kalnay said of the fundraising initiative.
Standing among the rows of tightly-bound fir and spruce, Kalnay said the trees — species that do not grow in Yellowknife — travelled a long way to reach their Northern destination.
“We usually get them from Waskesiu in Saskatchewan, but we had to find a new supplier last year, so now, these trees come from Johnston Brothers Tree Farm in Oxford Station, Ontario,” Kalnay said.
By truck and train
The trees were first shipped from the tree farm, located outside of Ottawa, by truck to Montreal, then put on a train to Edmonton. From there, two different trucks from Edmonton got them safely to their Yellowknife destination.
“It’s quite the journey,” Kalnay said.
Funding fun
Volunteer Brian Maule, whose son is a Scout, said because the fundraiser is a major contributor to the Scouts program, all the kids are funding their own activities, which takes the burden away from a family’s finances.
“For the Scouts, it creates a revenue stream and allows them to provide a really valuable experience for the kids, which they are not going to get any other way,” Maule said. “My son this weekend is camping, as an example, and I’m here volunteering because he can’t.”
“They are great activities,” he added.
Price freeze
On Saturday, the opening day for the tree lot, business was brisk, with a line forming outside the fenced-in space in the Co-op parking lot. For patrons not sure about whether their chosen tree would actually fit inside their home, a long wooden measuring stick was on hand to help people make their ‘just right’ choice.
Kalnay said he enjoys seeing people picking out their trees and carrying them off for the holidays, all for a good cause. He noted that the tree prices remain the same as last year.
“Even though transportation costs have doubled, we have kept our cost the same,” he said, adding that it was made possible because of help from Yellowknife businesses.
“There’s no inflation at the tree yard,” he laughed.
The Yellowknife Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Venturers program is open to children and youth between the ages of five to 17.
—By Jill Westerman, Northern News Services
