“It's amazing to watch, the skill it takes this guy to do that. “I said, a 250-year-old tree is coming down, let's go take a look at it,” Diane Pease said. Among them was a mother with her two boys and a couple from Manchester who had read about the tree and wanted to see what all the hype was about. He hypothesized that perhaps a lot of the were grown around the same time and are now, accordingly, dying off.Īs branches were hauled off and the sounds of a chainsaw filled the air, onlookers were transfixed. “Even in the woods, they are dying and blowing over. “It's disappointing especially when it's national champion, but we do lose them fairly frequently if they are too close to a home,” Martin said. Martin had the chance to size-up the maple a few years back and admits it “was impressive.”

Proud owners are constantly calling Martin and his colleagues to come out and check out their tree. The state program now includes over 1,000 county, state and national champions. Among them is Kevin Martin, who has in the past run the state's Big Tree Program and now oversees the county program that is home to the maple. The tree has long been the talk of those who track the largest in the state. It's unsafe and it's not fair to her to let her stand out there and not be as beautiful as she always has been.' “She's just at the end of her life,” Buxton said. There was also widespread rot in the tree and Braxton began to hear the tree creaking. Cracks formed in the trunk and it became clear that the tree had become a safety hazard, with the potential for branches to fall onto the house. Squirrels, Buxton said, used the tree to get into the family's attic.īut a bout of recent storms with strong winds proved too much. The maple being cut down has as survived plenty of storms over the years and provided a place for birds including a whip-poor-will whose calls could be heard many nights and a recent owl family that made a home in the trunk. They are known as wedding trees because they were planted on each side of the home's doorway, a sign that it might have been a gift to newlyweds. “We're all sad to see it go but we have thoroughly enjoyed it for the 67 years we have been here.”ĭavis estimated the tree was at least 240 years old and is one of two on the property planted at the same time. It's been special to the whole family,” Buxton said, sitting at her kitchen table.

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