Maryland

A 300-year-old tree was cut down in Md. A wood sculptor transformed it.

Published

1 year ago

December 24, 2023

A 300-year-old tree was cut down in Md. A wood sculptor transformed it.

When a long branch fell from one of Maryland’s oldest and most beloved trees earlier this year, chain-saw carver Colin Vale inspected it and began envisioning how he could turn it into a sculpture.

The Linden Oak, the largest white oak tree in Montgomery County, stood for about 300 years in North Bethesda, Md., before it was sawed down in July to keep it from becoming a safety hazard. Hoping to preserve the tree’s memory, county officials hired Vale, who studied the health of the branches after construction workers chopped them.

Vale spent months deciding how to commemorate a tree that began growing before America’s founding. After selecting a nearly 11-foot-long branch to transform into a bench, he settled on carving the left side of it into the shape of an acorn sprouting roots and oak leaves. The right side features a carving of a buffalo, an animal that lived in the county at the time the tree was planted.

Vale unveiled the bench this month at a Kensington, Md., park, about a mile north from where the tree stood. He said he hoped the sculpture, which he named “Connected Through Time,” would portray a sliver of the Linden Oak’s life.

“I tried to kind of empathize with the tree … and try to imagine what it has seen over the last [300] years or so,” said Vale, 32.

Montgomery County officials estimate that the Linden Oak, which stood near the intersection of Beach Drive and Rockville Pike, was planted in the early 1700s. Standing more than 95 feet at its peak, the Linden Oak had held the title as the county’s largest white oak tree since 1976.

By the summer of 2022, the tree had died and lost multiple limbs. Colter Burkes, Montgomery Parks’ senior urban forester, began brainstorming ways the oak could be commemorated.

“If we didn’t do anything with it,” Burkes said, “it might just kind of be forgotten.”

Near the start of this year, Burkes contacted Vale, a chain-saw carver who has worked on multiple sculptures in the county. Vale, who grew up in Olney, Md., about 10 miles north of the tree, said he didn’t know much about the Linden Oak but joked that he might have inhaled its pollen at one point.

In the spring, Burkes and Vale examined which parts of the Linden Oak were healthy enough to sculpt. Vale said the oak from the back of the tree was rotten, but a few branches on the front, some of which were about 65 feet long, could be preserved.

Montgomery Parks officials decided to cut down the tree in June. The next month, Vale and a handful of community members watched as construction workers removed its limbs, putting most of them into a woodchipper.

“I’m looking forward to making something really beautiful and lasting, and maybe even touching, out of a large log from this tree to help it last even longer in people’s memories,” Vale said in July.

The Linden Oak’s 25-foot-tall trunk, and three plaques honoring the tree that had been posted on nearby rocks years earlier, remained in their original spots.

Construction workers moved a nearly 11-foot-long branch to a concrete slab at Ken-Gar Palisades Local Park for Vale to carve. Vale, who was finishing a wooden statue elsewhere in Kensington, settled on the bench’s design in early October.

He sketched an outline that included a stem draping over the bench and blossoming into two oak leaves while a second stem, representing the tree’s taproot, wrapped underneath it.

In mid-October, Vale started cutting the branch with a 20-inch chain saw. Five days per week, he packed a vegan sandwich and spent between three to eight hours carving.

A few weeks after he began, when the bench was mostly carved out, Vale started to use smaller chain saws to design the acorn, buffalo, leaves and tree stems. He finished the project on Dec. 4 and spread oil across the bench to preserve the wood.

On Dec. 7, dozens of people gathered around the bench, which was covered by a red tarp. Vale threw the tarp over his right shoulder as community members cheered at the sight of the finished bench. Vale said it will probably last for about two decades before the wood begins to decay.

Earlier this month, Vale visited the bench and saw a man and a child inspecting the carvings. The child ran to sit in the leaf-shaped seat on the back of the bench — a moment he said makes him smile whenever he thinks of it.

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Maryland

Maryland, Baltimore City declare state of emergency as winter storm nears

Published

5 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore issued an executive order late Sunday declaring a state of emergency as a powerful winter storm approached with forecasts calling for heavy snow across much of the state. Moore’s executive order noted the potential for hazardous road conditions, power outages, transportation interruptions and sustained temperatures below freezing. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott also …

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Maryland

No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball picks up statement road victory over No. 23 Iowa, 74-66

Published

13 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Press Room

No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball picks up statement road victory over No. 23 Iowa, 74-66

No. 8 Maryland women’s basketball walked into a sold out Carver-Hawkeye Arena and made a statement against No. 23 Iowa. It led by 25 points less than a minute before halftime.

But the Terps had to survive a fighting comeback effort after a big first-half lead in order to take a 74-66 win over the Hawkeyes, whose 20-game home win streak dating back to last season ended Sunday.

“Really impressed with this group’s poise and composure,” head coach Brenda Frese said. “This group just found different ways to win. I loved our first half. We knew Iowa was going to come back in that second half.”

After Iowa scored first, Maryland went on a 13-0 run and didn’t let up from there, beginning the contest 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

But as great as a start Maryland put together, momentum flipped in the latter end of the first quarter. Iowa inserted a freshman-heavy lineup and went on a 7-0 run that cut Maryland’s lead to seven points after the first quarter. The Terps led by as much as 14 points in the frame, but kept missing shots despite an abundance of offensive rebounds. Five of Christina Dalce’s six rebounds in the first 10 minutes were on the offensive end.

Maryland was dominant to start the second quarter, putting together an 18-1 run to extend its lead to 24 points. The Terps outmatched Iowa on the boards, forced turnovers at will and moved the ball fluidly.

The Terps headed to the break up by 21 points after a small Iowa push, but the Terps made a statement in their biggest road test to this point.

Maryland was 9-of-17 from deep in the first half. It hadn’t converted more than 11 3-pointers in any of its previous 13 games.

Shyanne Sellers and Kaylene Smikle both scored 14 points in the first half, and Maryland’s defense did a masterful job containing Iowa. No Hawkeye scored more than four points except Lucy Olsen with 11.

Iowa came out of the half with some life. After Saylor Poffenbarger started the period with a triple, the Hawkeyes went on a 12-0 run and the crowd erupted.

“I think Iowa came out with punches [in the] second half,” Smikle said. “But we know how to play through that. We aren’t going to crumble from teams going on runs, because that’s just how basketball is.”

The Terps were held scoreless for more than four minutes before Smikle went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Maryland made its first field goal of the half before missing its next seven — a Bri McDaniel fadeaway jumper ended the shooting drought.

The Terps held Hannah Stuelke, who entered the game averaging 13.6 point per game, to one point through three quarters, and she was in foul trouble with four fouls.

After scoring 48 in the first half, the Terps only scored 11 points in the third period. Although they still led by 16 points, Iowa stole some of the momentum.

The Hawkeyes started the fourth on a 5-0 run to cut Maryland’s lead to 11, but a steal and finish by Smikle silenced the Iowa crowd.

The Hawkeyes brought the deficit to single-digits, as their comeback effort was in full force. It became a two-possession game halfway through the fourth quarter, and the Terps were in severe danger, succumbing to poor shot selection.

The Terps made a few clutch shots down the stretch and connected when necessary, but a late Iowa run cut the deficit to five points with 44 seconds remaining.

Once again, the Terps came through when they needed to, making free throws and playing strong defense to hold on to the win.

Three things to know

1. Big Ten road win. Maryland survived its toughest road test thus far Sunday, improving to 14-0 on the season. It could easily serve as the most difficult road environment the Terps will see all season, and they held strong.

“This is a tough place to play, and I think we played really hard and we pulled it out,” Sellers said.

2. Smikle shows off. Smikle scored a season-high 26 points Sunday. She went 4-of-5 from three, 8-of-17 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.

3. Less turnovers, but less rebounds. For the first time this season, Maryland was out-rebounded, 44-41, after a big second half on the boards for Iowa. Maryland won the turnover margin, though, with 15 steals and 22 forced turnovers.

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Maryland

Maryland, Baltimore brace for heavy snow

Published

20 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Press Room

Maryland, Baltimore brace for heavy snow

Get your grocery store trips and other errands finished today, because when you wake up Monday, everything will be blanketed in snow.

For days forecasters have been eyeing a weather system to Maryland’s west with the potential to bring widespread, heavy snow to the region. Well, it seems to be happening.

The National Weather Service has placed the entire state under a winter storm warning — most of the Baltimore metro is forecast to see anywhere from 4-10 inches of snow.

Snow totals will depend on the storm’s track, Cody Ledbetter, a meteorologist with the local NWS office, said.

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“If it shifts north or south it could be significantly different,” Ledbetter said, adding that snowfall of some kind is guaranteed across the region.

Snowfall should start between 10 p.m. and midnight in the Baltimore metro region. Precipitation should end around midday Monday, and a second band of snow could bring more accumulation Monday evening before clearing out, according to the NWS forecast.

Gov. Wes Moore declared a State of Preparedness in advance of the elevated winter storm threat to Maryland from Sunday through Monday. His office is asking people to avoid unnecessary travel. Local school systems may make the decision to cancel Monday’s classes as early as Sunday evening.

As of Sunday morning, forecasters predict anywhere from 4-9 inches will fall across most of Baltimore city, Baltimore County, Harford County and Carroll County. Portions of Howard, southern Carroll, Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties are forecast to see slightly more.

If the storm shifts north, the heaviest snow could fall in Baltimore. Ledbetter said some spots could see over a foot.

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Mayor Brandon Scott declared a snow emergency ahead of the storm’s arrival, and city workers started winterizing some roads on Saturday to prevent ice buildup. The city has more than 450 pieces of snow plowing equipment at its disposal.

Joey Henderson, director of the Baltimore Office of Emergency Management, warned residents on Friday to “take this storm seriously.”

Annapolis officials ordered residents to move cars parked in snow emergency routes by 11 p.m. Sunday. Parking at some city garages will be made free, and residents can leave their vehicles in those garages until the storm ends.

When the snow stops falling Monday it will likely linger on the ground for some time. Freezing temperatures are forecast for the rest of the week.

Residents across the region will likely use energy than normal to heat their homes as a result — which is tough considering Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.’s planned rate hikes.

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Cold temperatures also coincide with more house fires, and local officials warned residents not to turn to alternative heating methods, like using one’s oven to heat a room. Kerosene heaters are also illegal indoors in Baltimore city.

This story will update.

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