Holiday Tradition Supports Troop 149 Boy and Girl Scouts

By Robin Gee

The Scouts of Mariemont Troop 149 returned for their 32^nd consecutive year of Christmas tree sales in late 2024. Located on the lawn of the Mariemont Municipal Building, the Scouts’ Christmas tree lot is an annual tradition for many in the area. 

Immediately after being cut down, Fraser firs ranging from five feet to 12 feet tall are brought by truck from a family-owned farm. Also available: thick, fresh pine roping to decorate inside and outside your home, quality tree stands to securely display your tree and tree disposal bags sold at Santa-friendly prices. The Girl Scouts will also have their popular, fresh, hand-decorated pine wreaths for sale. 

With twinkly lights overhead and holiday music playing throughout, shopping for your tree is fun and easy, organizers said. Plus, the scouts carefully place every tree on a stand in the tree lot, making it easy to inspect from all angles so you can make sure you’re getting the perfect tree for your home.

“We’re very thankful for the ongoing support of the community. By including us in their holiday traditions, those who shop with us have helped hundreds of Scouts learn life skills in leadership, responsibility, and character over the past three decades. We’re thrilled to welcome people back for our 32^nd year of sales – but don’t wait too long to shop with us. We always sell out!” said Mike Wood, scoutmaster for BSA Troop 149. 

About the troop

Troop 149 was chartered in 1927 and so is just short of 100 years old. They are chartered with Kiwanis of Mariemont and meet at Mariemont Junior High on Sundays. Troop 149 is a linked troop that includes both a boys’ and a girls’ troop. Together there are about 50 members, almost 40 Boy Scouts and 10 to 12 Girl Scouts.

In addition to meeting each week, the scouts attend camp and go on a high adventure trip each summer. 

“The high adventure trip varies from year to year,” Wood said. “We’ve been to places like Philmont Scout Ranch down in Cimarron, New Mexico, where it’s a lot of hiking and backpacking. We did that one this year and hiked about 65 miles over the course of 10 days. And then we’ve also done a trip to hike on part of the Appalachian Trail and through Damascus, Virginia, and Grayson Highlands. And there’s a another High Adventure Base we go to, called Florida Sea Base, where they do deep sea fishing and kayaking and snorkeling. There’s scuba diving offered there, and you actually stay on a remote island in the keys that the BSA owns, which is kind of cool. Next year’s high adventure is up to the Boundary Waters, where it’ll be a lot of canoeing and fishing camping.”

The tree sales help offset the cost of the adventure trip and the camp as well as other activities — and national and local council membership fees, said Wood. This helps keep scouting accessible to all families. The funds also are applied to send scouts to a National Youth Leadership Training course where they learn leadership, communication, team development and other skills. How much of the activities are funded depends on how the tree sales go, he added. 

“It really depends on the success of the tree sale, but most of the time, we offset by 50% so if there’s a family in need, then there’s opportunity to provide a greater scholarship…This past year, the out-of-pocket expense for each participant was 700 bucks. So the troop was able to offset the rest…it’s a substantial amount that helps to make these kind of trips affordable,” Wood said.

Because the tree sales are Troop 149’s primary fundraiser, every scout volunteers for a minimum of 24 hours at the tree lot — rain or shine — in addition to his or her other extracurriculars, sports and academics. The scouts also volunteer in projects throughout the community.

“These kids volunteer a lot of hours in the community…Eagle Scout projects, for example, benefit a community, a school or a church. They’ve done projects like building outdoor classrooms for Mariemont Schools or erecting a flagpole at the Bell Tower…We’ve had scouts do projects for Camp Ernst down in Kentucky, which is a YMCA camp. They’ve done horse shelters…They’re building a chicken coop and providing chickens for Camp Ernst. They’ve also done projects for OAR, which is Ohio Alleycat Resource over in Madisonville…So those are other benefits that sometimes people don’t see,” Wood noted.

Scouts of Mariemont Troop 149 provided fresh, Fraser Christmas trees. Photo provided.

Wreaths were also for sale on the tree lot. Sales benefit Troop 149 members by covering dues and offsetting the costs of summer camp, an adventure trip and other activities. Photo provided.