Oak Tree

The fate of a stately oak tree is in the hands of East Pikeland Township officials who are considering a request from Meridian Bancorp Inc. to build a new branch office on Route 113. "We are holding fast on the tree. We definitely want them to . . . keep that tree. It is very much in the character of the neighborhood," said Rita Stevens, vice president of the township Planning Commission. According to Stevens, bank officials also would be asked to keep the tree in good health by creating an island around it - "an area where that tree can thrive.

Residents who fear for the life and limbs of one of South Jersey's oldest white oak trees were granted more time last night to retain a tree expert to support their claim that a planned subdivision could kill it. The Planning Board is considering a proposal by Michael Tippin to subdivide a property and build a house in the 5700 block of Cedar Avenue, where the tree has stood for 244 years. Residents opposed to the subdivision say Tippin's plan would damage the oak's critical root area and eventually kill its lifeline.

High winds toppled a rotted oak tree onto the roofs of portable classrooms outside the Barclay Elementary in Warrington Wednesday night, adding another problem to the list facing the Central Bucks school board. Superintendent Robert Winters told the board Thursday that it was not certain if the damage to the two trailers - which would have housed about 85 kindergartners this fall - was covered by insurance. He said he expected to hear from the insurance company sometime this week.

A 250-year-old oak tree in Washington Township probably will fall to make way for a wholesale food store, a planning official said. The Washington Township Planning Board is expected to vote Tuesday to approve plans for the store, which would be built where the tree is located. Board Chairman Jim McMonigle said it was not possible to make saving the tree a condition of final approval. "Anything we do to make them save the tree would be illegal," McMonigle said. "If we renege on the approval, they'll sue us, and they'll win. " In July, the board gave preliminary approval, 8-0, to a 164,000-square-foot building on Route 42 north of Route 555 that would house Sam's Wholesale, a discount food store operated by a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The oak stands on a 21-acre parcel where the store is slated to be built in an L-shape about 250 feet from the highway.

Traveler's Rest, a majestic white oak tree said to have been in existence for 400 years, came down Sunday night, falling with a thud across Mary Kane's driveway on Waterloo Avenue. Kane and her husband, Donald, had been outside their home in the 200 block of Waterloo Avenue Monday night watching Comet Hyakutake when they heard a crash in the front yard. They didn't realize that the source of the sound was the tree falling - with what Kane described as a gentle impact. "Just last week, my little grandchildren were playing inside the tree," she said.

This town's oldest living member is in danger - and residents of a quiet neighborhood have vowed to do everything they can to change that. They have sent out petitions. Lobbied local politicians. Contacted experts. And at a Planning Board meeting tonight, they will find out whether their efforts to preserve the county's oldest-known white oak tree paid off. The tree, which sprawls gracefully on the 5700 block of Cedar Lane, became an issue last month when neighbors heard that the lot would be purchased by a former resident who wants to move back to his hometown.

It's official. The nation's largest retailer has agreed to make room in a soybean field off the Black Horse Pike for a 200-year-old oak tree. Confirmation of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s reversal of plans to ax the white oak to build a Sam's discount food store came in a "Sam-o-Gram" fax yesterday from the Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. "When we discovered all the information about the tree, we realized we had an opportunity to make some changes," said Trey Baker, media coordinator for Sam's, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The proposed 130,848-square-foot building is slightly smaller than that proposed in July, when the plan came before the Washington Township Planning Board and prompted a public outcry.

The sign still announces the pending construction of a Sam's Discount Store, and that old oak - the one that inspired one tree-lover to send an appeal to Hillary Clinton - still stands in the middle of the soybean field off the Black Horse Pike. The tree will endure, but it may never have to share the field with Sam's. In October 1992, after a massive "save the tree" campaign, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. agreed to alter its plans to build a discount food store. Instead of bulldozing the 200-year-old tree, it would build around it, company officials announced.

Jim Bacon of Wildwood has fond memories of hiding out in the old oak tree on rainy days while growing up in Washington Township. Anne McNulty of Washington Township remembers admiring the 250-year-old oak during horseback rides through the woods off Route 42. Others from as far west as Philadelphia and as far east as Wildwood have no personal stories about the oak. They just plain like trees. McNulty has collected 700 signatures from residents of South Jersey who are in favor of saving the tree.

Rhododendron, azalea, holly, yew, euonymus, juniper: For the last century or so, these plants have occupied the narrow flower beds up against the bases of American houses. They're called foundation plantings, a landscape concept that was originally intended to hide the high, sometimes unattractive, lower extremities of Victorian homes. But architecture and lifestyles have changed, and jamming the same old retreads up against the house no longer serves a practical purpose. And such a limited - and limiting - design certainly doesn't add to the aesthetic.

TIGER WOODS is going to have to wait one more day to try to reclaim No. 1 in the world. Moments after Woods made a 10-foot birdie putt on the second hole, a vicious thunderstorm packing gusts that topped out at 62 mph interrupted the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla., and wiped out play until Monday. The storm dumped nearly 1 1/2 inches of rain on Bay Hill and formed small ponds in the fairways - there was even a fish in the middle of the 18th fairway.

Two teenage brothers were seriously hurt and rescue workers were endangered when a tree toppled onto a Levittown house at the height of Hurricane Sandy on Monday night. Ryan Dietrich, 19, was in stable condition in the intensive-care unit at Aria Health-Torresdale, and Kyle Dietrich, 15, was in stable condition, a nursing supervisor said Tuesday. Ryan Dietrich suffered a head injury and was in an induced coma, his grandmother Mary Landis said. Kyle Dietrich had a broken arm, she said.

When did a 65-ton crane, Facebook, deductible dilemmas, cracking wood, a furball-sized white Maltese guard dog named Cleo, and Superstorm Sandy come together? When a giant oak tree fell on the home of Stephen, Tricia and Madison Castellano in Haddonfield in the middle of Monday night. Yes, a dark and stormy night. Knowing that the storm killed dozens of people, Stephen Castellano is grateful his family survived their personal brush with nature. But they were also key players in this one episode of the homeowner-recovery phase of Sandy, and the many supporting characters are emblematic of the business and government activity that is churning after the storm.

West Catholic's Jaryd "Burger" Jones-Smith gained his nickname while playing youth basketball as a fifth grader. "It was near the beginning of the season and the coaches couldn't remember my name," the senior captain said. "One of them said I looked like a burger. . . . it just kind of stuck. " "Oak," as in oak tree , might be a more-appropriate nickname these days. The 17-year-old, a two-way stalwart for the Burrs, stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 320 pounds. Projected to be an offensive tackle in college, Jones-Smith, imposing but still raw, has scholarship offers from Virginia, Pittsburgh, North Carolina State, Central Florida, and Temple, among others.

Jackson responsible for his death I wonder if any of the Michael Jackson fans who are calling for the scalp of Conrad Murray place any responsibility on the physician's alleged victim. Did Jackson not have free will to determine whether he would become and remain a pathetic drug addict? How is it that Murray was expected to be Jackson's keeper, protecting him from himself? Is any blame or scorn placed on a man with children abdicating his responsibility to them in part through his drug dependency?

GETTYSBURG - Workers cutting up a fallen tree at Gettysburg National Military Park came across some Civil War artifacts when their chain saw struck bullets buried in the trunk. The bullets were discovered last week while a crew was cutting through the oak tree on Culp's Hill, the site of intense fighting on July 2 and 3, 1863, Park Superintendent Bob Kirby said Tuesday. Two sections of the trunk were removed and will be treated to clean out insects and mold before they will be added to the park museum's collection, officials said.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - David George is accustomed to guarding tall players. After all, he does stand 6-7 and go 185 pounds. Shadowing an oak tree? That was a new experience. Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter last night suffered a rude dismissal from the PIAA Class AAA playoffs, and Peter Alexis was much of the reason. Who's that? Well, he's the center for Holy Redeemer, of Wilkes-Barre, and he's listed at 6-11 (every bit of it) and 252 pounds (might be on the low side)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - David George is accustomed to guarding tall players. After all, he does stand 6-7 and go 185 pounds. Shadowing an oak tree? That was a new experience. Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter last night suffered a rude dismissal from the PIAA Class AAA playoffs, and Peter Alexis was much of the reason. Who's that? Well, he's the center for Holy Redeemer, of Wilkes-Barre, and he's listed at 6-11 (every bit of it) and 252 pounds (might be on the low side)

Rhododendron, azalea, holly, yew, euonymus, juniper: For the last century or so, these plants have occupied the narrow flower beds up against the bases of American houses. They're called foundation plantings, a landscape concept that was originally intended to hide the high, sometimes unattractive, lower extremities of Victorian homes. But architecture and lifestyles have changed, and jamming the same old retreads up against the house no longer serves a practical purpose. And such a limited - and limiting - design certainly doesn't add to the aesthetic.