Save The Tenney Maple Tree "Let it Die by Itself Rather Than Die by the Chainsaw"

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Tenney Family Members and Weathersfield Residents  Ask VTrans to Trim Not Cut Down The Tree
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With a few members of Romaine Tenney's family in the audience, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) hosted a meeting at the Ascutney Volunteer Fire Station in Ascutney to gather ideas about how best to honor the Ascutney farmer who refused to leave his farm when Interstate 91 arrived in his dooryard in 1964.
Agency of Transportation Historic Preservationist Kyle Obenauer reported that the State arborist found that the maple tree is in a "serious state of decline."
(The tree on the right side of this Weathersfield Society archive photo shows the maple a short time before the the Tenney fire.)
The back of the tree has a large cavity that has some mushroom like growths on it called fruiting bodies.
He went on to say that there isn't enough structurally sound wood left to re-cable the tree or even prune it to try to save a portion of the tree. 
Ginger Wimberg from the Weathersfield Historical Society gave the crowd some background of Romaine Tenney and his life. All nine Tenney children were born in the Tenney homestead. Romaine stayed on with his mother while the other siblings moved away.
Wimberg said she was excited to hear from the State and that both the family's and the town's input were being asked for in the decision to place some kind of memorial plaque or historic marker. 
Ginger Wimberg, Weathersfield Historical Society
Select board member John Arrison spoke and urged AOT to reconsider the decision to take down the tree. "It's the last living reminder of what was here. I understand that you can't have danger to the public and all that, but do what you need to do, trim it up, let it die by itself rather than by the chainsaw."
Dylan Romaine Tenney from Claremont NH (left) and Brandon Tenney from Bellows Falls (right) attended the meeting. Dylan said they visit the farm off Tenney Hill Road on a daily basis.  Dylan said he's been hearing promises from the state for a long time. "We deserve an apology."
Select board member Dave Fuller spoke to Mr. Obenauer "You said early on you wanted to honor Romaine Tenney, you can't." He went on to say "we took something from him; he didn't want the park and ride; he didn't want the interstate; I agree with John (Arrison), that tree's not dead and it's going to outlive all of us."
A number of suggestions were given to check for saplings or collect some of the seeds for propagation so the tree could live on. Cookie Shand suggested that if the tree is cut down, leave and preserve some of the trunk and put a fence around it.
"Because we are removing the tree I'm hoping that we can do at least something rather than nothing" said Obenauer.
It was revealed that the decision to remove the tree was made after the arborist report this past summer. The decision to hold a meeting about the tree removal was only announce a few weeks ago. The timing of this meeting came into question. Concerns about the timeline for removal were raised. But no clear answer was given.
After the meeting Romaine Tenney relative Joe Michaud from Claremont NH speaks with Ginger Wimberg.
Background:
This maple tree is located on the former Romaine Tenney property. (See my related story about Romaine Tenney and Ben Fuller's new song "Spark" https://herecast.us/984175)
Chief Spaudling remembers Romaine Tenney  
Nancy Nutile-McMenemy is an Upper Valley freelance photographer and writer who loves to attend concerts and local events in and around Weathersfield and the Upper Valley.  If you have an event you'd like listed please email it to: photosbynanci@comcast.com

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