To maximize sales of Christmas trees for an annual fundraiser, leaders in a Loveland Boy Scout troop knew they would need their supply of firs by the Friday after Thanksgiving at the latest.
That delivery date became a problem for the troop last week, when it was discovered there had been a delay in their shipment that might push the arrival of the trees into December. Expediting the shipment would have cost too much for the nonprofit Boy Scout troop.
Scouts such as Aaron Forster, a 15-year-old sophomore at Loveland High School, were worried at the effect a late start would have on total sales revenue from the annual fundraiser that helps send scouts to summer camps.
“I knew they were going to get out here, I just didn’t know when,” Forster said.
But this year’s new location the scouts are using for storing and selling their Christmas trees, in the Dairy Delite restaurant parking lot at 3080 W. Eisenhower Blvd., provided the scouts a connection to speed up the delivery of the trees.
Mike Embke, owner of Dairy Delite, also owns a semitruck for his part-time trucking business, and when leaders of the Boy Scout troop approached him to ask if he could drive through the midwest and return with their trees, he gladly accepted.
“I was available and I could do it,” Embke said. “They were pretty disappointed that they may have to cancel their Christmas tree sale.”
The scouts’ request came about noon Saturday, Nov. 18. After telling troop leaders he could pull it off for a reasonable rate that would cover his expenses while saving scouts hefty costs, he left at 5 p.m.
Another complication ensued while Embke was on the road, though, and extended his trip. Originally, he was asked to pick up the trees at a distribution center in Minnesota, but the firs weren’t scheduled to arrive there until Friday morning, and Embke was ready to load Monday, Nov. 20.
So Embke took it upon himself to get directly to the source by driving hours further east into Manton, Mich., home of Dutchman Tree Farms, which had sold the scouts their firs.
Embke finished the 1,268-mile drive back to Loveland on Wednesday evening, even after dropping off another batch of trees for a separate nonprofit in Wichita, Kan., along the way, said Ann-Marie Joseph, a Boy Scouts leader who coordinates the annual Christmas tree sale.
Embke returned in time to enjoy Thanksgiving with his family in Colorado, and watched from the warmth of his restaurant as the Boy Scouts unloaded their fir trees from his semitruck in the parking lot Friday morning.
“I have so much gratitude for him,” Joseph said of Embke. “The whole troop is here. It’s just good to see things come together.”
The scouts made their first sale before all the trees were even off the truck. Shawna Maloney and her family bought a Christmas tree from the Boy Scouts for the first time Friday since moving to Loveland from North Dakota.
“My brother grew up in Boy Scouts, so we always support our local troops,” Maloney said.
Explaining the different attributes that make each species of tree desirable has become a useful sales pitch for Forster, who has applied to become an Eagle Scout and is waiting to find out the date he will take a final test to do so, he said.
The Boy Scouts are selling both Fraser and balsam firs between 6 and 10 feet tall.
“Frasers, they have the most Christmas tree look. Balsam’s have the best smell,” Forster said. “This is something I look forward to every year.”
Sam Lounsberry: 970-635-3630, slounsberry@prairiemountainmedia.com and twitter.com/samlounz.