The Fort Frances Fire Department is doing a Christmas tree pickup in town this Saturday (Jan. 11).
Those who would like their tree removed are asked to place it lengthwise on their curb by 1 p.m. on Saturday.
“We just ask people to put them out where it’s visible, out towards the curb is best for us,” noted Fort Frances fire captain, Rob Dokuchie.
“We don’t do any of the alleys we do just main streets, so if they put it out in the alley we’re not going to see it and won’t pick it up.”
While the program is free, town residents who are utilizing the tree pickup are encouraged to leave a donation in their mailbox, which the fire department gives to local families in need.
A dozen volunteers from the fire department will assist in the tree pickup and Darryl’s Custom Landscaping is providing all of the trailers to pickup and dispose of the trees free of charge.
The program has run for close to 40 years and the fire department is expecting to pickup about 50 to 75 trees this year.
“Since most people now have artificial trees, we’ve seen a drop over the years quite a bit,” Bokuchie said.
“It was really a big process 20 years ago when we had tons and tons of real trees, so it’s getting less and less.”
“In years past we had hundreds and hundreds of trees that we were picking up.”
The fire department asks that those who put a tree outside of their home for pickup make sure it’s laying face down and isn’t placed upright in their yard.
“A lot of people stick them up in the front yard and sometimes we can’t tell if its a real tree . . . if they stick the butt end into the snow it looks like its just growing there sometimes,” Bokuchie explained.
He told the Times the fire department also runs into trees out for pickup that are inched in plastic.
While the fire department can tear off the plastic, it is more convenient for them to pickup the tree bare.
