Recycled tree preserves landscape, history

Author: Katherine Gura

Throughout history, trees have served as archetypal symbols of growth and time, of preservation and continuity. Sadly, Middlebury College recently saw the destruction of one of its oldest trees, a gift of the Class of 1860 and a testament of the last 150 years. Yet while its branches have ceased to frame the Middlebury skyline, its memory shall not be forgotten.

A group of Middlebury undergraduates, faculty, and staff members have arranged to use the wood of the dying historic Norwegian spruce for a new bench near the New Library. In this way, the tree, planted as a gift from the Middlebury Class of 1860, will continue to serve the community and honor the members of this class.

Towering at an impressive 90 feet tall, the tree thrived on Middlebury's campus for almost 150 years. However, in 2006 it was struck by lightning and suffered a deep crack that wound up the entire trunk.

Throughout last fall, Middlebury Horticulturalist Timothy Parsons worked diligently to save the tree, attempting various methods of feeding, mulching and pruning. Despite his valiant efforts to repair the damage, the condition of the Norwegian spruce continued to worsen and was recently cut down.

"Because it was a class tree and probably one of the oldest and most popular on campus, we took extra care, but eventually it had to come down," Parsons explained.

Yet Parsons, along with several students and Assistant Professor of Anthropology Michael Sheridan, is ensuring that the Class of 1860 gift continues to benefit the school. One evening over dinner at the weekly Forestry discussion table, the Forestry group devised a plan to use timber from the spruce to build a commemorative bench to complement the New Library.

"We got to talking about the dying spruce in front of the library," explained Sheridan, "and how it's a shame because it was the Class of 1860 tree - so pretty significant for alumni. One of us had the idea that the tree can still commemorate the Class of 1860 as a lasting piece of furniture."

Sheridan, who studies the social significance of trees (particularly in rural African cultures), was particularly excited by this project.

"The idea (for me, at least) is that culturally significant trees don't have to die, they can be transformed into new social roles," Sheridan said. "I study the political and ecological aspects of sacred groves in Africa, so my involvement in this spruce-to-bench project is almost comparative research."

Over the summer, Sheridan worked to coordinate "key decision-makers in the library, facilities and alumni relations" to build the commemorative bench. The tree was just recently cut down, and local lumber outfitter Tom Lathrop is processing the spruce's wood into lumber.

At first Parsons was concerned that the wood was too damaged to be used for furniture, but thanks to the tree's age and size (Parsons counted the rings of the tree and calculated its age as approximately 145 years old), the logs will be sufficient to build the new bench.

According to Preservation and Processing Manager Joseph Watson, construction of the bench should begin in a few months by Middlebury carpenter Gerry Tetrault, who intends to model the design after the work of internationally acclaimed woodworker George Nakashima who is famous for embracing "the natural form from which the wood came" in his work.

The method of reusing materials to create the library bench dovetails perfectly with the building process of the New Library. Salvaging material from the Starr Library was an important aspect of the construction of the new facility. The old library was constructed almost entirely of concrete, and that material has since been crushed and now serves as the foundation for the new building. The use of the spruce tree's wood for a new library bench only extends this process of recycling.

In transforming the tree into a new bench, students, faculty and staff members will preserve the generosity of the Class of 1860. Many people do not realize that the Norwegian spruce was planted as a gift to the community, mainly because the plaque included with the tree was lost for many years. The tablet was unearthed recently during nearby construction, and it will most likely be included with the library bench so that the seat will truly embody the sentiment of the original gift as well as instill a continuity across generations of Middlebury students.

"In the future, the bench will serve as a reminder that the class of 1860 planted a tree to mark their time here, and that students more than a hundred years later had the idea of the bench to commemorate both the class of 1860 and the tree," Watson said.

"I think this is a good example of how the campus landscape can be more than a backdrop to the everyday work of the College," said Sheridan. Indeed, he said "the landscape can be a teaching resource, a means of maintaining connections with alumni, and a way to enhance the College's status as a leading environmental institution. It's a win-win-win situation all around for the landscape, the library and for alumni relations."