Thanks to our sister site My Green Lake for this story.

Seattle residents who subscribe to curbside food and yard waste collection can put their trees and greens out on their regular collection day at no extra charge beginning today (Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010) until Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. Trees should be cut into sections of six feet long or shorter, with branches trimmed to less than four feet to fit into the collection trucks. Sections should be bundled with string or twine. Multi-family buildings can put out one tree next to each yard waste cart at no extra charge.

Trees that are flocked and/or have tinsel or ornaments will be collected as extra garbage. Customers will need to cut the tree into three-foot pieces and each piece will be charged as extra garbage. Starting Jan. 1, each unit of extra garbage will cost $8.10. Plastic trees are not recyclable.

photo credit: comedy_nose

Seattle residents can also drop off their holiday trees and greens for free at Seattle Public Utilities’ North and South Recycling and Disposal stations between Dec. 26 and Jan. 9. The tree sections must be cut to eight feet or less in length and the trunk must be four inches or smaller in diameter. The limit is three trees per vehicle. Only trees without flocking or decoration may be disposed free of charge.

The North Recycling and Disposal Station (1350 North 34th St) and South Recycling and Disposal Station (130 S Kenyon St) are open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day except for Christmas and New Year’s Day.

With Christmas Eve and Christmas approaching, the hours for almost all of Fremont’s businesses will be limited. Below is a list of the essential spots you’ll want to know are open or not over that time. If you don’t see a place listed that you’d like to know about, please leave a comment or send an email and we’ll find out.

Below is a list for the markets and coffee shops. I’ll have a list for restaurants and bars on Friday.

Markets

PCC: Open til 7pm Christmas Eve, Closed Christmas Day

Marketime: Open til 6pm on Christmas Eve, Closed Christmas Day

Coffee Shops

ETG: Open til 4pm on Christmas Eve, Closed Christmas Day

Lighthouse: Open til 1pm Christmas Eve, Closed Christmas Day

Fremont Coffee: too cool to pick up the phone so I’m not sure. Anyone?

Caffe Ladro: Open til 5pm on Christmas Eve, Open Christmas Day 7:30am to Noon

Caffe Vita: Open til 2pm on Christmas Eve, Closed Christmas Day

Canal Street Coffee: Open til 5pm on Christmas Eve, Closed Christmas Day

Starbucks: Open til 5pm on Christmas Eve, Closed Christmas Day

Peets: Open til 4pm Christmas Eve, Closed Christmas Day

I spent my evening cheering as a Star of David was affixed to and lit up on top of Vladimir Lenin’s head. How bout you?

Here’s a video recap of Lenin Lighting 2010 followed by a couple photos. The event was enjoyed by a large crowd of Fremonsters, kids and pooches. Kudos to the Fremont Chamber of Commerce, MC Kirby Lindsay, the Rabbit Stew String Band and all of the sponsors for a great evening.

Send in any videos and photos you’d like to share as well.

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Big day in Fremont tomorrow. First up, it’s the Lenin Lighting at 5:30 p.m. It’s recommended to get in the area by 5 in order to find a cozy spot.

If you’re not familiar, the thing we’re actually lighting is a neon red star that will sit on Lenin’s head. This year the star was fixed up by the good folks over at City Light Neon, who did the work as a donation to the community.

There will be live music courtesy of Rabbit Stew String Band and free refreshments: Peet’s coffee, sweetened mint tea, hot cocoa, and Mighty-O Donuts. Santa Claus will also be on hand handing out oranges. Why oranges? It’s Fremont, that’s why.

Check out Fremocentrist’s post on the event for more details on why you should attend.

Following the lighting, stick around town because the Fremont Friday Art Walk will officially be under way. Between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., some of your favorite stores, restaurants, hang-outs and coffee shops will be featuring live music, art, painting, videos, sculptures and a whole lot more. Check out the full list of participating places here along with what each of them is hosting.

The weather report calls for clouds with a chance of showers so be prepared. The events will go on rain or shine.

Thanksgiving was just a couple days ago but Christmas is already on a lot of folks’ minds. Knowing this, the Christmas Tree lots are already popping up all over town. Here’s the best bets for Fremonsters looking to secure theirs soon…

Here in town, Fleur De Lis Garden Ornaments will be selling Christmas Trees through December 24th or until they sell out.

For almost sixty years now, the Boy Scouts have been selling trees in Ballard. The scouts are once again set up in the parking lot of St. Alphonsus Church (at the corner of NW 57th and 15th Ave NW). Open at noon all week, the lot will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. starting this Saturday until December 19th, unless they sell out of trees early.

Over in Queen Anne, the Queen Anne Helpline and the Boy Scouts of America Troop 72 have opened their annual Christmas tree lot in the Upper Queen Anne Safeway parking lot. The tree lot will be open now until Sunday, December 21 (or until the trees sell out). Check here for the daily hours, which vary.

If you want to support the fight against AIDS, you can buy your Christmas Tree over in Capitol Hill at the Dunshee House. Running through December 23rd and open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, proceeds from sales benefit the Seattle AIDS Support Group.

If you want to learn everything you could possibly need to know about Real Christmas Trees and how to find a good one, visit the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association. And of course, if you do get a tree, it’s not complete until you’ve added your very own Fremont Troll ornament to it.

Finally, if you’re more concerned with decorating your house than you are with your tree but don’t have the time or energy to deal with it, Fremont’s got you covered. Holiday Spirit Lighting will hang your Christmas decorations and lights for you so you can just sit back, relax, chug an eggnog latte and enjoy. They’ll even take down the lights for you when the holiday is over and a portion of sales goes to Toys For Tots.