The Lake Forest Scouts Hockey Club, a club team not affiliated with LFHS, settles into the holiday spirit early. In fact, they start preparing for the holidays Oct. 1st, before most people even have their Halloween decor out. It’s not only the players and coaches, though: Other people and families around the community pitch in to the team’s holiday tradition. .
Beginning in the 1970s, Scouts Hockey’s Christmas tree and greenery sale is the organization’s biggest fundraiser. The sale offers a high-quality assortment of trees and greenery from the family-owned Echo Hills Tree Farm located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
For the 2025 season, the program is made up of four teams:: Varsity Gold, Varsity Blue, JV Gold, and JV Blue. Each player from the four teams actively carries on the tradition by selling items.. The fundraiser helps offset player fees through earned commissions, reduce overall costs for the program, and raise donations for GLASA sled hockey.
Trees, decorative items, roping, and wreaths are available for purchase on the Lake Forest Scout Hockey Website.
Along with selling the items the players provide free delivery service to customers in the community, which is a big selling point for the organization. Moreover, players also offer fresh tree cutting and tree set up for an additional fee. A new service offered this year is direct shipping to customers, which allows select products to be eligible for delivery outside of the Lake Forest and Lake Bluff areas.
On the ice, competition is huge. However, competition is a large factor in the tree sales too. Players are required to sell a certain amount of greenery and trees to customers. It may sound easy, but, given the amount of players on each team, finding connections and people to buy trees is a challenge. Regardless, nearly all players are determined to meet the goal, and some even exceed it.
Varsity Blue Assistant Captain and senior Josh Goldman has been doing the tree sales since his freshman year; he loves the tradition and how it provides for the community.
“It’s super fun when we are all together, such as going to houses, bonding, and also driving around,” said Goldman. “We work as a team, and everyone has their part to do.”
While he’s only done the tree sale once before, Varsity Blue player and sophomore Lawson Herbert is excited to participate again to support the club.
“I like how it [advertises] Scouts Hockey around our town. It’s also a good way to keep the players occupied when not playing,” Herbert said. “They get money for their work, so overall I think it’s great.”
The Scouts Hockey tree sales bring the hockey community together, and, most of all, shows how the players are a team on and off the ice.
