January/February 2016 |
19
Reed Dunfee uses a chainsaw to cut the last notch into the once thriving white oak, revealing
a hollow and rotten trunk.
All Hollows Episcopal Church in Harwood, Maryland, stood in the shade of a nearly
three-century-old white oak tree since its inception in the 1950s. It wasn't until
late October 2015 when the once strong and majestic tree needed to be removed.
Church members began to notice the thinning, dying tree canopy earlier in the
year, and most members agreed the historic tree required removal.
Rich Johnson, church warden and groundman, contacted a few local arborists for
estimates. Kolby Corrigan, sales arborist at Chesapeake R/C office, presented his
estimates and plan, which later secured Davey the job.
"The tree had decay fungus on the trunk; it was back-leaning toward the church
with large, dangerous, dead branches," Corrigan says. "We knew it was bad and
the tree needed to be removed."
Corrigan assembled a removal team, including trimmers Darren Johnson and
Robert Hooper and foremen Ronald Enos and Reed Dunfee, to execute his plan
to safely remove the massive white oak.
Local news stations and spectators watched, captivated by the massive tree's
emotional removal. Church members hoped to save part of the trunk's base.
It wasn't until the crew made three major cuts to the tree's trunk that the source
of decay was discovered.
"As we made the last cut, we could hear everyone gasp," Corrigan says. "The tree
trunk base was completely rotted out and too hollow to preserve." Johnson, who
found the most intact piece of the trunk, calculated the tree to be 290 years old.
"The removal of our church's signature tree was an emotional event, and it was
a great comfort for us that it was done with such skill and so much respect for
our historic property," he says.
"It was a good feeling, knowing we made the right call," Corrigan says.
AN OLD OAK TREE TALE
Davey's crew, pictured from left to right, back
row: Darren Johnson, Ronald Enos and
Reed Dunfee; front row: Robert Hooper and
Kolby Corrigan.
Crew members used a 120-foot boom
crane, a bucket truck and a 48-inch
chainsaw to safely remove the second
largest white oak in Maryland that
rotted from the inside out.
