THUNDER BAY – Residents looking to get a Christmas tree for the holiday season are in luck, as the Westfort Kiwanis Club's annual Christmas Tree lot is open for business.
Located on the CLE Grounds behind the movie theatre, over 40 volunteers came out to help the group carry and display hundreds of trees.
Christmas Tree Committee Chair, Terry Ferguson, was concerned about the availability of trees this year due to difficulties obtaining them from Ontario. Fortunately, he was able to order 700 balsam firs from Nova Scotia.
“They loaded the trailer in two hours, and he called me. He said the trailer's loaded. He's on his way and the trucking company allowed the same amount of time, two hours, for us to unload, and we did. We were unloaded in an hour. All this was unloaded in one hour because of extra volunteers,” he said.
“We probably had 40 volunteers here. The biggest group would have been the Thunder Bay Youth Police Corps. A lot of young people, 14, 15, 16-year-olds, are here helping us throw trees around.”
The trees start at $70 and can go up to $140 for some of the bigger trees.
The funds generated from the sales of trees are directed towards supporting the vital programs and services aimed at the children of Thunder Bay and Ferguson said that the level of support from the local community never fails to impress him.
“We sold about 40 trees already today,” he said. “So, just over 600 left. It's pretty amazing.”
The Kiwanis Tree lot will be open from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.
