The City of Ammon wants your trees for a giant bonfire
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AMMON — If you drop off your live Christmas trees to the City of Ammon, they will be used for a big bonfire night, complete with prizes, fun, and fireworks.
The City of Ammon is accepting live, undecorated, and unwrapped trees now through Jan. 17 at McCowin Park, located in the southwest corner of Targhee and Williams Street.
“There’s already a big pile that has started from some donations from businesses that had unsold trees, and over the weekend, people brought a lot over as well,” said Randal Miller, Ammon recreation director. “Keep bringing those trees over and throw them on!”
After all the trees are gathered, the “Icy Inferno Christmas Tree Bonfire and Fireworks Show,” presented by Lookout Credit Union, will take place on Saturday, Jan. 17. The event begins at 6 p.m., with Ammon firefighters lighting the trees on fire at 6:30 p.m.
“The fire department will be there the entire evening. They start the fire, they put out the fire. They supervise the entire thing all night,” Miller said.
The fireworks show will then begin when the bonfire is roaring.
“All the sponsorship money goes towards the fireworks show. We are going to have about a $10,000 fireworks show this year. It’s going to be the biggest one yet for this event. The fireworks show will probably be about 10 minutes long,” Miller said.
None of the money for the fireworks show comes from the city budget.
There will be prizes at the Icy Inferno, too. Bricks & Minifigs is giving away a Star Wars LEGO set. Blacknight Limousine will be giving away a two-hour limousine service. Stay tuned for more prizes and how to enter by following the City of Ammon’s Facebook page here.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of people come out to enjoy the night. It’s a quick event due to the chilly weather, but it’s something very unique to be a part of, Miller said.
The event was created six years ago. People would dump their trees at McCowin Park after Christmas at the dirt lot.
“They would sneak over in the middle of the night because they didn’t want to go to the (Bonneville County) Hatch Pit, and they just wanted to get rid of them. Then we would have to clean them up,” Miller said. “So we just had this idea, instead of being upset about it, let’s just encourage people to bring them here, and we will have a giant bonfire and make a big party out of it.”
He spoke with the mayor and the fire department at the time, and everyone agreed. He then looked into sponsors and it has been going on ever since.
The pile of trees is growing larger each day. Miller encourages people to continue to drop off their trees in Ammon.
“You don’t have to look for a place to take it or dump it somewhere in the middle of the night. Just bring it over to us. Throw it on the pile!” he added.
