Stuart Perry, founder and director of Perry Wellness Center and Rudy’s Happy Patch Market, is a man who believes in squeezing the last ounce of value from a product. As the steward of a non-profit organization serving individuals with mental health or substance abuse issues, he makes sure that purchases are worthwhile and often recycles or repurposes items.

The most recent example is last year’s Christmas trees. After the majority of the Frazier firs were sold to customers, several more were donated to individuals in need of a tree for their home or farmers who sank them in their ponds. (Sunken brush or trees attract and offer shelter to small fish, who can forage for food there or hide among the branches to escape predators Branches from some of the remaining trees were also used to make last-minute Christmas wreaths, decorated by peers. The last stragglers  were slated for mulching after the holidays.

Recently, peers Kelvin, Avon, and Shack, pictured above, worked together to load trees into a PWC box truck. Then they were carried to their new destination – a mulching pit at the top of the hill. There they await limb breakage and product reduction for local garden mulching.

At this point, even Stuart must admit that he has gotten everything possible out of the 2023 Christmas trees.