HELENA — Boys Scout troops headed out early Saturday morning to hunt for Christmas trees for their Christmas tree lot.
“Seeing the joy in their face, they have a lot of fun, whether they're cutting trees, carrying trees down, you can see them racing around trying to get the most trees to the trucks and trailers, They have a lot of fun with it,” said Scout Troop #207 Scout Master Rob Stapley.
Stapley says bringing both troops 207 and 217 to cut down trees outside of Elliston, creates a bond for the troops as well as brings them outside.
The scouts had smiles on their face the whole time, even hauling hundreds of trees into six trucks and trailers.
“When you look out here you don't have any sort of cell service, so just getting the smell of the nice open air and enjoy the wilderness, it's nice,” said Cory Simmonson, a 16-year-old who enjoys the comradery of Boy Scouts.
12-year-old scout Preston Lende, says being outside is a fun way to try and raise money.
“It's just a nice way to get outside do something for the troop to help out, and really it's just fun,” said Lende.
Plus getting outside for some of the scouts is something new.
"I love getting to go outside I don't go outside much but this has been a really nice opportunity to cut down some trees, help out my friends, and yeah I really enjoy it,” said Weston McNearney.
The outdoor activity does not just instruct the boys and gals wilderness skills, the trees bring funds to the troops for merit opportunities.
“The Trees benefit them throughout the year by paying for opportunities to go to summer camp to pay for any goods or supplies we need so that parents aren't asked to continually cover those costs,” said Stapley.
And some of the scouts enjoy selling the trees at their tree lot at Lewis and Clark Fairgrounds, then they can experience the outdoors throughout the year.
“It's just a fantastic opportunity to come out here and cut Christmas trees to sell, to raise funds for the troops so we can do fun activities such as going to camps,” said Tanner Stapley.
“I really enjoy going out into nature and just camping around in different states or in-state different places to go camp, it's really fun,” said Alexander Hoffer.
Boy Scout Troops 207 and 217 will help their Christmas tree sale at the fairgrounds starting on Friday, November 26th at 8:00 a.m.
*Clarification/Correction 11/22/2021: this story has been updated to indicate that this was an event with Boy Scout troops that have girls as members. The Girl Scouts is a separate organization and was not involved in the event.
