Guardsmen Christmas tree lot marks 75th year raising money for at-risk youth
SAN FRANCISCO - The Guardsmen Tree Lot celebrates its 75th anniversary this holiday season raising money for at-risk youth in the Bay Area by selling Christmas trees and other decorations.
The event runs multiple weeks inside the Festival Pavillion at Fort Mason, which has hosted the lot for 50 years.
"We've been having way too much fun down here with the tree lot for about two weeks. We had a comedy night, we had a crab feed, we have a Christmas market where local small businesses come down and sell drinks, food, crafts," said Jason Martial, a Guardsman member. "We have a Tree Lot Party coming up on December 16th, and last Sunday we even had Santa."
The lot features trees of all sizes, including smaller options for studio apartments in the city to large, show-stopping centerpieces for homes with high ceilings. Ornaments, wreathes, and other Christmas creations made out of tree branches and trunks are also on sale.
Money raised at the lot pays for children and teens to go to camps, after school programs, and scholarships for a private school education.
"We have previous campers and scholarship recipients that have been Guardsman, that have been Guardsman presidents," Martial told CBS News Bay Area.
He says the Guardsmen host the largest indoor tree lot in northern California, each season they bring in 6,400 trees. The nonprofit was founded in 1947 by a group of San Francisco professionals who wanted to give disadvantaged children the chance to experience the same opportunities they had growing up enjoying the outdoors.
"We're just very lucky that those people come back and be part of this after they've been scholarship and campership recipients," Martial said.
The Tree Lot continues through Saturday, Dec. 16. You can learn more about specific hours depending on the day for the remainder of their schedule here: https://sftreelot.guardsmen.org/
