1/1/25: VOLUNTEERS WILL BE ‘RECYCLING’ CHRISTMAS TREES THE NEXT THREE SATURDAYS ON THE SOUTHERN SHORES BEACHES: How to Donate Your Tree, Participate in Effort.

Southern Shores homeowner Len Schmitz, who has been a leader in the on-going effort to plant grass on our beaches, will be placing discarded Christmas trees on the dunes the first three Saturdays this month to help prevent sand erosion. He will be meeting with other volunteers at noon each Saturday in the Hillcrest Beach parking lot, where residents may dispose of their trees, provided they have removed all metal and decorations.

Mr. Schmitz also will be driving around town, picking up similarly unadorned trees that residents leave at the roadside for pickup by the Town during its regular limb/branch collections, he told The Beacon. (Do not be surprised if he retrieves your tree before the Town does.)

The Town will start its tree (and other brush) collections on Monday, Jan. 6, with sector one and continue weekly in chronological order with sectors two through four. If you do not know what sector your street is in or if you did not even know there were sectors, we encourage you to look up the Town’s website page for 2025 collections, at the bottom of which a street/sector legend appears: https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/media/11211

Mr. Schmitz will be working alongside volunteers from the Southern Shores Civic Assn. and Better Beaches. If you would like to help out, all you have to do is show up at the Hillcrest Beach parking lot on the Saturdays when they will be recycling trees.

The Christmas trees act as a natural barrier to windblown sand—catching it—and provide a biodegradable structure that will help to grow the dunes.

For more information, you may contact Mr. Schmitz at fenceplantrepeat@gmail.com.

GRASS PLANTING TODAY: If you would like to help with beach-grass planting and have some time this afternoon, Mr. Schmitz will be meeting with volunteers at the 108A Ocean Blvd. access to plant grass from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Such plantings are a valuable addition to the beach nourishment that was performed.

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING NEXT TUESDAY: The Southern Shores Town Council will meet for the first time in 2025 next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center. The meeting agenda should be posted on the Town website tomorrow.

Happy New Year and thank you to all volunteers who help to maintain the Southern Shores beaches and coastal environment for all of us to enjoy.

By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Beacon, 1/1/25