Strauser Nature's Helpers

Strauser Nature's Helpers/Christmas Decor in East Stroudsburg is in search of a soldier's house to decorate for the holidays, and is taking applications through Nov. 15.

"This is the third year that Christmas Decor, the national company, is doing the Decorated Family program and our first time," owner Zechari Strauser said. "The goal for this year is to decorate 200 homes nationally."

Strauser Nature's Helpers added Christmas Decor to its services in 2006. The firm does landscaping, maintenance and snow removal as well.

Families interested in being considered for the house decorating need to apply online. Families can also be nominated by others.

"As soon as all the applications are in and we pick a family, we go out to the house and talk to the family about what they want," office manager Stephanie Stashluk said. "We put up all the decorations and check it during the season. We take care of it all. At the end of the season, we take it all down. It's worry-free for the family."

The contest is open to Monroe County families who currently have a loved one serving active duty and veterans.

To apply or nominate a family: www.christmasdecor.net or e-mail info@strausernature.com. Put Decorate a Soldier in the subject line.

If e-mailing, please include a short essay as to why your family, or the family you are nominating, deserves to have their house decorated for the holidays.

-- Originally reported by the Pocono Record.

Strauser Nature’s Helpers is prepared to service all of your landscape needs. In this tough economy your property can be an important commodity. Professional landscaping can keep a home’s value blooming, even if the real estate market isn’t. Professional landscaping of a property not only saves your time, but also can save you money in the long run.

Pro Landscape Maintenance is running stronger than ever for the last five years. Your existing contract automatically renews so look for our maintenance crews who will be ready to begin Spring Clean Up in March, depending on the weather.

Pro Landscape Design and Installation will begin as soon as the weather permits. Now is a great time to call the office for a free consultation and take advantage of our pre season specials for new landscape installation and improvements.

Pro Holiday and Event Décor has wrapped up another holiday season. All lights and decorations are down, a little later than normal due the weather. Call in July for early season pricing.

Pro Snow and Ice Management has been busy this year. For all customers who employ these services, crews have begun doing turf/snow repair and will finish up during the Spring Clean Ups. Along with our strong commitment to our customers we’re continuing and stepping up our commitment to the environment we live in. Being in the landscape business we take particular notice of the environment and are continuously improving our efforts to go green. We have taken the standard 3R’s of recycling to a 5 “R” process in our commitment to go green.

Recycling paper, cans, glass, and plastic, cardboard and ink at both the office and at our yard. We also purchase environmentally friendly and recycled products whenever available.

Reusing paper as brainstorming paper or first draft paper. All folders and organizational materials are reused and relabeled. Our mulch is recycled pallet mulch.

Reducing and trying to improve our efforts to be as paper free as possible, scanning and emailing documents whenever possible offering our customers the option of having their bills emailed to them, look for directions for signing up for this service in your first bills. We also are moving forward to the point of accepting payments online. Our crews will also be working on a four day work week schedule of Monday-Thursday this year. We also take advantage of energy saving LED lights.

Repairing all vehicles and equipment. Keeping these items in good running order eliminates excess exhaust and fuel produced from a piece of equipment or vehicle that is not maintained properly.

Rethinking and improving our systems so that we will continue to grow green. Starting small can produce large results.

We wish to extend a sincere thank you to all our customers. Please visit our new web site at strausernature.com to view our portfolio and testimonials. Our staff is continuously attending various training and certification classes to better serve your needs. Please call the office (between 10:00am - 3:00 pm) with any questions or concerns you might have.

Strauser Nature’s Helpers, we’re naturally green.

Sincerely,

Zech Strauser and all of our staff