While I have had weeks and weeks to mourn the fact that they would be going, I now realize that the community of Hyde Park has not had that time and so I offer a eulogy of sorts...or explaination at the very least for the loss of our beloved trees.
A few months ago, a representative from the Village of Hyde Park requested that we look in to the health of the tree out front. The two large halves of the trees posed a threat to both the building of the library, and the electric lines over the road.
We called Tree Works in Montpelier who did some work on the tree in 2003. At that time, they'd pumped some good fertilizer in the ground around the tree in both the fall and spring. They also installed a metal rod into the tree to keep the two parts together. In June, and with the technology since even 2003, Bill DeVoe of Tree Works took a laser reading of the middle of the tree to determine its health. The prognosis was not good. It was rotting on the inside and couldn't be saved as we'd originally hoped. In fact, the metal rod from 7 years ago was really the only thing keeping the tree together. It would have to go.
While he was here, I asked Bill to take a look at the tree at the side of the library. The news for that one was even worse! His worry was that if we did not take care of that tree, we'd be in for some serious damage within the next 6 months.
The "guys" from the Village and Town agreed to take down and remove the trees for us as soon as they were able. (This saved the Lanpher Library quite a lot of money as we'd have to pay someone to take the trees down.) That time came early Monday morning for the tree out front, and early Tuesday morning for the one on the side of the building.
We are VERY grateful to Tree Works of Montpelier and to the Village and Town for their help in taking care of the trees for us.
We do join the community in mourning their loss. We already miss the shade of the tree out front. We feel so "exposed" now without the protection and shade of that tree.
While the upstairs at the library now has plenty of natural light, we miss being able to look into the tree and observe the birds, squirrels and branches while sitting at the table in the meeting area.
We'll be looking into putting window dressings in pretty soon!
Many folks are asking: What is your plan for replacing the tree?! We know that we will replace the tree out front. As timing has it, during the Open House for Connie Page's Quilt Display and Exhibit here at the Library this morning, the tree at the side of the library was being removed. The family of Connie Page began discussing a donation of a mature tree of some kind in honor of Connie to go out front. My heart swells already with the immediate possibility of something to fill the empty spot where the beautiful, old maple once stood.
I guess our next step will be to remove the stump. I'm not sure how ready I am for that yet....but in the meantime, I'll enjoy the little reminder that a nice, old tree was once there...witnessing the comings and goings of the library for a nice, long time.