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By NATHAN HOWELL | Special to the Reporter 

HELENA — One of the most cherished parts of Christmastime is getting the family together and driving out to a lot to pick the perfect tree to put your presents under and showcase your favorite decorations.

Like many years, Helena’s Troop 532 sought to fulfill this pastime by setting up a lot where people could select their own tree to take home.

According to Scoutmaster District Strickland, the tree lot is the primary fundraiser for the troop and helps instill valuable lessons in the scouts while also helping to provide funding for projects and events.

“We try to teach the boys how to pay their own way through hard work, good values and other virtues,” Strickland said. “It was a lot of fun working with the boys and seeing the different roles they took on at the lot like salesmen, hard-workers and even some comedians.”

There are upwards of 60 scouts in the troop, and Strickland said that the tree lot gave him an opportunity to see them demonstrate the principles of helpfulness and always being kind and courteous to others.

When the lot was closed, the troop had sold around 200 trees, which Strickland said was a really good year for them.

This could only have been achieved through the support of the local community. Strickland said people were asking well ahead of time when they were going to have trees in, because they knew the troop had top quality ones.

This tree lot has been a part of the troop for around a decade, and this is the second year that the lot has been set up at the troop’s home at Helena United Methodist Church.

All of the funds raised through tree sales will go back into the troop for camping gear and other important things to help keep costs down and affordable for everyone.

While the funds were certainly helpful for Troop 532, Strickland said that one of the biggest benefits that came from the tree lot was that it helped spread positivity in a year where positivity was definitely a necessity.