Scouts remove old Christmas trees

Sap speckled Mercedes Geraldo's and Greg Geraldo's faces, arms and jackets Saturday as the mother-son duo made their annual rounds to gather used Christmas trees.

"We stick, we stick quite well," she said, laughing and lugging discarded trees into a pile.

The Boy Scouts of America program offers the community convenient disposal, helps the scouts gather funds for outings, awards and other expenses and reduces the number of trees destined for the landfill, said Dan Garvin, executive director for the Buttes Area District. Recology Yuba-Sutter helps sponsor the program.

"We are just doing a service by picking up the trees," said Alex Saldivar, 16. "And they are not just going in the dump. They have enough stuff to deal with without a flood of Christmas trees."

The scouts ask for a $10 donation that goes directly to the troop members who picked up the trees, which are taken to the landfill to be composted. The scouts will make another trip around town next Saturday to pick up any trees missed this weekend.

Fueled by donuts and youthful energy, troops spanned out across Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties for their collections. A pile of Douglas firs, white pines and blue spruces quickly grew into a mountain of greenery outside the Clark Avenue Boy Scouts office.

Troop 35 member Eli Harrison, 11, got his workout for the day wrestling two trees, each taller than him, to the pile. But the exertion did not faze him.

"My favorite part is what I just did, how you get to pull a whole bunch of trees at once," he said.

Greg Geraldo's troop, Troop 389, enlisted a convoy of five trucks to scour the neighborhoods and pick up more than 40 trees, six of which were at just one house.

Some of the volunteers said they enjoy imagining the trees in all their holiday splendor.

"You think 'Wow, that must have been quite a beautiful tree," said volunteer Janice Hampton, who continues to help even though her son graduated years ago.

But imagining the trees with decorations is not too difficult, as a few inevitably arrive with tinsel or lights intact.

A glittery gold angel with a broken wing and a porcelain Mrs. Claus were among the forgotten ornaments Tim Sanders, Christmas tree recycling coordinator, had collected this year and pinned to his clipboard. Another was a clay gingerbread character inscribed with "To Megan, Love Mrs. Jacoby '03."

Greg Geraldo's exposure to the holiday greenery during the two-weekend pickup may be overwhelming, he said, but it does not change his opinion of the trademark decoration.

"It's hard to get sick of Christmas trees," he said. "We still go out and buy one each year."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ashley Gebb at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com.