Caledon heritage tree lost in last week’s storm

March 30, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Bill Rea
Nothing lasts forever, and that includes stately trees.
West Caledon residents Paul and Debby Ross learned about that during last week’s ice storm.
In the end, the storm had claimed a sugar maple on their Mountainview Road property. They said the tree had stood at least 200 years.
Mrs. Ross said she saw the tree was covered with ice at about 6:30 a.m Friday morning, adding it broke, with half of it coming down at about noon. She added it did not come down in silence. “Crack, and then boom,” she recalled.
“The ground shook as it was coming down,” Mr. Ross added.
The tree, which was designated as a heritage tree in Caledon, had a diameter of about three feet. Mr. Ross estimated it was about 100 feet tall.
The Rosses live in a pioneer homestead which was owned by a Major Potter. It was built in 1817, and he said that as near as can be determined, it originally stood north of the tree. The house was later moved further back on the lot, and then finally placed at its current location, south of the tree, in 1967.
He added the property is under forest management.
“It lived a long time,” Mrs. Ross observed. “It survived all these ice storms, and this one took it down.”
Part of the tree is still standing, but Mr. Ross said he was not optimistic about its future.
“I’m afraid it’s going to have to come down too,” he said. “It’s unfortunate.”
Despite its age, he said the tree was covered with leaves every year.
“It was just a magnificent tree,” he said. “It was the landmark of the whole property.”