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November 29, 2010 in City
Lawn care company has bright idea for holiday lights
Scott Garske, with Senske Lawn and Tree Care, checks a lighting installation job on North Comanche Drive in Spokane on Tuesday.
(Full-size photo)
A dozen years ago, Senske Lawn and Tree Care bought into the national Christmas Decor franchise, anticipating both the graying of America and an increasing reluctance by homeowners to risk injury when putting up outdoor holiday decorations. Scott Garske, 58, a sales consultant for Senske, recently explained why the popularity of this holiday service continues to grow.
Q. Why did Senske decide to offer this?
A. No. 1, it keeps our employees employed all year long. The employees are maintained full time, and they have the benefits they have in the summertime. It’s much better for the company and the customers.
Q. How does it work?
A. You’re buying the service, not the decorations. We don’t put up anyone else’s decorations. We supply the materials, and the design consultants (who) go to the house and tell the customers what would look nice. We listen to them, too, and we might give them more ideas.
We supply the maintenance. We do nighttime checks where we drive by. If anything goes wrong, we come out and take care of the problem.
In January, we take all the decorations down. We box them up, and the box has the customer’s name on it. We store it at Senske’s.
Q. Is it ever dangerous work?
A. Very much so. That’s one of the big reasons we have so much business. I had two hand surgeons who had us do their decor because they have worked on people who had fallen off ladders and broken wrists.
There are a lot of baby boomers who want their houses decorated, but they aren’t going to climb up on snowy roofs. They are to the age now where they have the disposable income to put decorations on their houses, but they want someone else to do it.
If we put the decorations up, and we hurt something on the house, we fix it. If one of our guys falls off a ladder and breaks his leg, we’re responsible.
Q. What’s the cost?
A. The packages average between $300 and $600. (But) it goes to anywhere you want to go.
The top-top cost? Thirty-five thousand dollars. That’s our corporate office in the Tri-Cities. We’ve decorated 30 trees there. We’ve decorated the entire corporate building, and it’s all put to music. It’s animated. When people drive by, they turn to a radio station and it flashes to the music sounds.
Q. Is it true you do some free decorations for returning soldiers?
A. We try to do one in every market we have. We’ve also done them for military people deployed. We’re appreciative of what they’ve done and their sacrifices, and they’re appreciative of what people do for them.
Q. When you were a kid, did you have Christmas decorations on your house?
A. Remember the old stencils? You did them with a sponge. You’d cut them out and put the stencil on the window. My mom did those.
Q. Is your house decorated now?
A. Not yet. Mine is the last to go up.
1992 murder trial begins against sex offender 
Albert on November 29 at 7:44 a.m.
What a great way to maintain your employees during the typical annual layoff period!!! Affordable for sure, (I don’t have the money of course), but to note that the prices include all the material - another great approach. Needless to say, this is refreshing and would be outstanding to have more local entrepreneurial employers like this company. Great idea - great service - and thanks for keeping your employees who can now pay their bills.
andjusticeforall on November 29 at 8:52 a.m.
HAHA Yea except most senske employees are Dope Heads…watch closely when they drive by you in the comp vehicles….im sure you will see them smoking joints & what not….but hey, someones gotta do the dirty work, dope heads or not
Lulubelle on November 29 at 9:20 a.m.
I don’t know anything about “dope heads”, but I do know the Senskes are big supporters of Republican candidates and causes…..that alone encourages me to do my own decorating…thanks anyway
liberal_in_right_wing_land on November 29 at 12:26 p.m.
andjusticeforall gets the prize for dumbest comment of the day.
myheck on November 29 at 3:50 p.m.
Republicans?!?!?! You gotta be kidding me!!! Glad you have principles, Lulubelle, and will do your own decorating. Then be sure to decorate - at your own expense, of course - the home of someone who is currently serving our country (make sure they’re Democrats, though). And, don’t forget to help some empty nesters or elderly folks do their decorating. You can save them from injury AND save them from the Republicans at Senske. Must everything be about “sides”? Rather than asking “Who” is right, how about “What” is right and Senske also does some very right things.
eagleproducer on November 29 at 10:27 p.m.
And the line between news and advertising blurs into obliteration.
I want a story that details how much of KHQ’s annual revenue will come from the political ads they aired during the campaign season. Independent analysts put the figure at over 20%. Most of their newscasts during the election featured endless political campaign ad analysis with campaign ads aired in between.
KHQ uses public airwaves with a license granted by the FCC. They are supposed to serve the public good, but will they even give lip service to that notion any more when much of their annual ad revenue will come from special interest groups intent on purchasing the best government money can buy?
The answer is no. Their coverage of elections will be the coverage of ads, not issues. Just like it was this time, while they rake in the bucks.
liberal_in_right_wing_land on November 30 at 1:37 a.m.
This sure has been on the cover of the home page a long time. Obviously the owners of Senske are a friend of the Cowles family.