Community Corner

Vandalism Delays Lions Club Christmas Tree Sale

Family Tragedy Led to the Vandalism

Vandalism has delayed the annual Montville Lions Club Christmas tree sale, which was set to begin today in the parking lot in front of Tri Town Foods on Route 32.

Linda Linda, president of the Montville Lions, said today that the start of the sale could be delayed until Tuesday, though Linda hopes it might be sooner.

The trees were ordered through Christmas Trees Worldwide, of Norfolk, Mass., and came originally from Nova Scotia, said Pat Dougherty, who is in charge of the Lions Club Christmas tree sale.

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Charlie Carroll is sales manager of Christmas Trees Worldwide. He says that following a death in the family of the trucking company, a grief-stricken relative of the deceased smashed windshields on six of the trucks. When they are repaired, the trees will leave Canada for Montville.

The Lions 250-plus trees will go on sale as soon as they arrive, Linda says.

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"We have buyers come year after year," she says. "We hope they'll wait to buy their trees from us. The money goes to help people in the community," she said, "and the need is greater than ever this year."

Chris Ouellette, 24, is standing in the empty lot Friday, looking around. He has been selling trees at the Lions Club annual sale since he was in second grade. His father, Albert, has been in Lions for probably 20 years.

"At first," he says, he started working at the sale "because I was too young to stay home. Now, it's actually a lot of fun. I'm the young guy in the club, so I climb up on the truck and hand the trees down."

He enjoys the sale, looks forward to it every year.

"Seeing the same people every year and hearing the stories," that's what he enjoys. Some of them have seen me selling trees since I was 9 years old," he says. Meeting the new people is good, too.

"The people that come down every year, they're all excited," Ouellette said. "This is their tradition."

He is hopeful that the buyers will wait. And he is optimistic.

"Maybe being on a Tuesday, it will help. There are always people that see us unloading and come in and buy a tree."


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