Students lend a hand to stock church’s Christmas tree lot

When a large truck dropped off 400 Christmas trees from Central Evergreens in Merrill on Webster Street in Port Washington outside First Congregational Church a week before Thanksgiving, the church knew exactly who to call — Port Washington High School students. In what has become a holiday season tradition, the students carried the trees to the church’s Christmas tree lot at the corner of Webster Street and Grand Avenue for its 40th annual tree sale, which is an important fundraiser for the church. This year it took 23 students 35 minutes to move the mountain of trees. Doing some of the heavy lifting were Avery Roehrig (top photo) and (from front in photo at left) Henry Tradewell, Aedyn Brownmiller and Max Zillmann. Students help the church through the school’s Port Pride program, which encourages them to do volunteer work in their community and rewards them with an exemption from a final exam.  Photos by Sam Arendt