Peterborough’s Boy Scout Troop 8 will be making house calls to pick up used Christmas trees on Jan. 6 and 13.  

The troop will collect trees in Peterborough and neighboring towns and bring them to the Peterborough Recycling Center to be chipped or donate them to area farms. Trees need to be at the end of the driveway by 9 a.m. and must be free of ornaments, hooks and tinsel so that they are both safe for farm animals and appropriate for the wood chipper. 

Troop 8 has been running the tree-collection project for about five years. Residents can sign up at forms.gle/a7tuAuH2kKZzEgD69. Residents seeking tree pickup are requested to make a donation to Troop 8, but a donation is not required.

“It’s a fundraiser for our troop, but it’s also kind of a community service project,” said Sue Darroch Whittaker , Troop 8’s committee chair. “People are so happy to not have to deal with getting rid of their Christmas trees. We make sure they are disposed of properly, either at the recycling center or at local farms. Most people are really generous to our troop. and we are very grateful.”

Donations can also be made online through the troop’s website at troopwebhost.org/troop8peterborough/index.htm.  

“Between our national fees and our council fees, the cost to be in our troops has doubled. We would never want anyone to have to quit the troop because they could not afford the fees, so we do a little fundraising to help families out,” Whitaker said.

Troop 8’s project is popular with local farmers, particularly those with goats and pigs. Whitaker encourages any local farmers looking for trees to get in touch with her through Facebook. Last year, the troop enjoyed seeing local livestock munching on discarded trees. 

“Apparently goats really love nibbling on the trees, also pigs and sheep like them,” Whitaker said. 

In previous years, the troop hosted a bonfire of trees and a community event at Adams Playground, and then at Moose Brook Park. However, lack of snow and the COVID years led to the bonfire being canceled. Troop 8 also partakes in Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades, walking and performing the flag-raising ceremony and other community service projects.  Troop 8 includes boys from Peterborough, Dublin, Greenfield and Francestown. 

“We are a boy-led troop, so as far as activities, we sit with the boys and we talk about what they’re interested in, what they want to do. The boys are very outdoors-focused,  so we do a lot biking and hiking and kayaking.  We’ve done skiing and camping; we do a rock-climbing trip every year. There is always something fun going on,” Whitaker said. 

Peterborough Troop 8, a member of the Daniel Webster Council,  is looking for new members. Interested parents should go to troopwebhost.org/troop8peterborough/index.htm for information.