Residents of North Asheville will notice the absence of the white oak at 189 Kimberly Ave. Broken in a storm two years ago, it was bolted in five places and cabled in two in an effort to keep it upright. Subsequent testing showed the tree to be hollow in the bottom one-third of the trunk. Observation over the past two years found it to be pulling away from the bolts and developing additional cracks. Heroically, it was able to maintain its weight on not more than 7 inches of solid wood at any point in the bottom one-third of the trunk. The residents have chosen to display a portion of the trunk in the yard to illustrate the challenges faced by those who fought to save it.
Reavis Thayer Eubanks Jr.
Asheville
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