JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) – For those still looking for a way to get rid of their real Christmas tree, the Jonesborough Equestrian Center (JEC) will accept them for its bi-annual tree burning and barn dance party.

Lori Fisher, the Jonesborough Equestrian Center’s owner and manager, said the tradition started back in Montana, where she’s from.

“I moved here three years ago, and there in the town that I lived in, we would do a tree burning every year after Christmas, kind of to usher out the old year and in the new,” Fisher said. “So we kind of we just wanted to continue the tradition here.”

This will be the second time the JEC has held this tree burning.

“We repurpose the trees, we jump them. We have a jumping team, an equestrian team, so the kids will jump the trees. We’ll you know torture the kids with them as long as we can. Anything that can go to livestock will get repurposed. We’ve got some clients that have goat farms that can use them and anything with tinsel or snow we burn.”

Community members can also drop off real Christmas trees at the Winged Deer Park dumpster recycling area. Johnson City solid waste is collecting real Christmas trees during its regular brush pick up schedule, as well.

Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, Virginia is accepting Christmas tree donations to drop in the lake to create fish habitats. You can drop trees off at the boat ramp off of Mitchell Valley Road until Feb. 29.

News Channel 11 reached out to Brights Zoo, who used to collect real Christmas trees for their animals. This year, they are not accepting them.

We also reached out to The Funny Farm in Chuckey, who warns goat owners that chemicals like pesticides sprayed on Christmas trees can be harmful to animals. Owner Tammy Stanton said several of their goats had miscarried their babies and others died due to toxicity after eating sprayed Christmas trees.

Fisher invites everyone to come out to the JEC’s tree burning and barn dance party on Saturday at 5 p.m.

“We’re going to have dinner, refreshments, all of that sort of thing, kind of some concessions available,” Fisher said. “And then dance lessons start at 6:00 with BJ Goliday. He’s a professional dance instructor, so we’ll have an hour of instruction and country line dancing and then we’ll do open dance the rest of the night.”

Entry costs $5 to help pay for the DJ and dance instructor.

“The event is going to go on rain, sleet, snow or hail. We’ll have the arena decorated, cleaned up, ready to party. We have large propane heaters that we’ll have running for heat. They’re good to huddle around if it’s really cold. And just show up as you are, you know, jeans and boots and ready to have a good time.”

You can drop off real Christmas trees at the JEC’s property at 139 Cable Rd. in Jonesborough.