Youth help town gear up for the holidays
Megan Strickland
Ronan FFA member Gradon Irish loads a Christmas tree sold in the group’s annual fundraiser.
Berl Tiskus
Shannon Saint unropes Christmas trees for sale by the Ronan FFA.
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Ronan FFA member Gradon Irish loads a Christmas tree sold in the group’s annual fundraiser.
Megan Strickland
Megan Strickland
Kicking Horse Job Corps students help hang Christmas lights on Main Street in Ronan.
Megan Strickland
Berl Tiskus
Ronan Ag Instructor Reese McAlpin helps unload Christmas trees.
Berl Tiskus
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RONAN – It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas in downtown Ronan, and some credit for that goes to the town’s youth.
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Kicking Horse Job Corps students spent the day out in the cold, climbing ladders and twisting Christmas lights around posts and trees downtown. Town beautification committee member Ky Bartels appreciated the help, which included assistance in setting up the tables and chairs for the community Thanksgiving dinner.
“They were a huge help,” Bartels said. “It would have took someone of my age forever to get it done.”
Down the street at Mountain West Coop, Ronan FFA member Shannon Saint was curled up in a blanket, waiting in a pen of Christmas trees with Micah McClure for a customer to purchase trees or wreaths.
“I’m sure there’s some warm place I’d rather be, but it’s our only major fundraiser and someone’s got to do it,” Saint said.
McClure clung to a steaming beverage as they waited.
“I’m not even drinking it anymore,” McClure said. “I’m just holding on to it hoping it keeps my hands warm.”
Most of the wreaths, made by students in vocational-ag classes, were gone by the next day; many of the trees, both wild and farmed, remained. Teacher Reese McAlpin said a whole new batch would be ready for sale on Saturday, Dec. 7.
“We’ll be here, 7 until 7,” McAlpin said.
