Boy Scouts sell Christmas trees during holiday season

By Nathan Woo,
Bluedevilhub.com Editor–

The annual Boy Scout Christmas tree lot is closing on Dec. 24, ending one of the Davis’ Boy Scouts most prominent traditions for the year.

The tree lot stands on the corner of Mace Blvd. and Cowell Blvd., offering it’s services to customers Monday through Friday from 1 p.m to 9 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 9
p.m, and Sundays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Senior Earth Umnartyutithum has worked at the tree lot for the past five years, working with the tree lot to provide good customer service to his customers.

“We sell trees and that’s mostly it. We restock trees, help customers, tie the trees down; we basically do everything for the customer, and it all goes towards our scout bucks,” Umnartyutithum said.

For a Boy Scout, scout bucks are a very important resource to obtain, acting as real money to pay for scouting activities; these include activities ranging from summer camps to high adventure camps such as Philmont or Sea Base.

Lot manager Michael Dawson describes the job of working at the tree lot.

“My job entails anything from restocking the Christmas trees, helping customers pick out the trees, using the saws and the clippers to trim the trees and make it ready for them to take home, putting it on their car, tying it on, and all things involving sales,” Dawson said.

Dawson believes that the mission of the Christmas tree lot to firstly spread the holiday spirit, as well as allowing for scouts to earn scout bucks.

“We have stands, we have mistletoe, we have wreaths, and we just help spread the holiday spirit,” Dawson said.

The tree lot sells varying types of trees cut from Tahoe and trucked down to Davis.

“We sell douglas firs and noble firs, and they vary in size from like little tiny trees to twelve footers,” Umnartyutithum said.

Noble firs are the typical type of tree used, with branches that allow for easily hung ornaments, while the cheaper douglas fir has a more wild set of branches.

“Typically we get people who support boy scouts, or college students because they want to get the little tiny trees that cost like 12 bucks; we actually get a wide variety of customers,” Umnartyutithum said.

While working at the tree lot, Umnartyutithum has encountered many interesting stories.

Dawson has had his very own unique stories while working as a boy scout before he became lot manager.

Troops 66, 466, 111, 139, 199 and crews 66 and 111 work the Christmas tree lot.