By Ana Jaramillo Aidan Carruthers, a sophomore on the Lake Forest Junior Varsity Gold Hockey team, is involved in the 45th annual Scouts Hockey Christmas Tree and Holiday Greenery event this fall. “I am really excited about this year's fundraiser,” he said. “It’s a fun event, plus we get to keep some of the money that we raise, which is an incentive to work harder.”
The Scouts Hockey Christmas Tree Sale has been a popular tradition for decades.
Along with about 70 other players across three Scouts Hockey club teams, Carruthers sells trees, greenery, and décor to residents and will deliver the items to community members at no charge.
“It is so much fun watching players and families across all our teams also come together off the ice to work towards a common goal,” said Lake Forest Scouts Hockey Board President Emily Savage.
The fundraiser alleviates some program costs -- including ice time at Lake Forest College, equipment, and uniforms – which is especially helpful because the school does not provide any funding to the hockey program.
“It’s a lot of work but also a lot of fun,” Savage said. “Our tree committee, consisting of Becky Milliman, Kirstin Carruthers and Amie Marks, works really hard to help organize inventory. They also coordinate players and families to help unload trucks full of inventory, set up our tree lot at West Park and make deliveries across town.”
A portion of all sale proceeds go to the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA). Scouts Hockey players also are regularly engaged in activities of the adaptive-sports group. “Many of our players participate in their adaptive sport volunteer opportunities, and we are especially evident in their weekly adaptive hockey sled games,” Savage said.
For the first time this year, Scouts Hockey is offering three new items -- a holiday wreath, a bark basket and wreath and centerpiece combination -- that can be shipped anywhere in the United States. The team’s biggest fundraiser is promoted as early as the Lake Forest Day Parade in August. Players also volunteer at the Ribfest in Lake Bluff in October and share information on tree sales there. “We set up a stand and help move the ribs around from table to table and hand out flyers,” Carruthers explained. “Personally, I like to send out emails to all the people who bought from me last year, as well as friends of my parents.”
Check out more about this upcoming event and online sales at https://www.scouthockey.com/about/christmas-tree-sales/1013