It was a full day of tree coverage in the wake of the Toomer's Corner oaks poisoning. Here are the Ledger-Enquirer's stories to fill you in after the arrest of 62-year-old Harvey Almorn Updyke of Dadeville, Ala.Two are by me, one is by Larry Gierer, who was up in Dadeville yesterday, and another by columnist Richard Hyatt.
And here are some other links you might find interesting:
- Here's the website Auburn has set up for updates about the Toomer's Corner trees.
- You can place orders to be in the lottery to get Toomer's Oaks seedlings here.
- The War Eagle Reader goes in the way back machine to debunk the notion that Auburn fans rolled Toomer's Corner after the news of Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's death, as "Al from Dadeville" claimed on Paul Finebaum's radio show last month.
- There is a Facebook page for this Saturday's "Tree Hug" at Toomer's Corner. (Must log in to see it.) There were 7,500 who planned to attend as of early Friday morning. Here's another page dedicated to saving Toomer's Corner.
- Some interesting artwork. This too.
- Courtesy of the city of Auburn, it's Toomer's Cam, a live stream of the corner.
- Former Auburn basketball player Tay Waller with perhaps the greatest tweet of the day.
- And if you're not following the Toomers Oaks Twitter account, you should.. Plenty of quips. ("Mmmmm... activated charcoal. At this point, I don't care if I OD on the stuff. Bring it.")
- Didn't see this until late Thursday night, but Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated, as usual, sums things up nicely in this poignant article about Toomer's Corner.
- And lastly, this picture was on the university's web page. It's Toomer's Corner from the 1890's.
7 comments:
http://www.thewareaglereader.com/2011/02/did-auburn-students-celebrate-bear-bryants-death-by-rolling-toomers-corner/
More on that AU fans DID not disgrace Bears death
Tay Waller steals the show, live all the way from Turkey. I'd say he's definitely the best AU basketball alum to follow.
Even better than Marquis Daniels. #beleedat
Wish Allen Iverson would hurry up and get back on the court over there so Tay can wear him out when he plays him.
Oh, wait, what were talking about, the trees...
People saying the Toomer's oaks are just trees are missing the point.
My Dad drove back to his boyhood home to get a clipping from a bush that belonged to his mother. He brought it home and planted it. To argue that one rosebush is the same as the next is to miss the power of symbolism.
I remember the oaks from my childhood. In 1983 my Dad and I attended an Auburn game. We watched Bo Jackson speeding down the sideline leaving a wake in the grass behind him. I remember a family gathered around the oaks for pictures before the game. They were laughing. I don't know what happened to that family in the coming years, but those oaks represent a memory point in their lives.
What Alabama fans have a hard time understanding is that Auburn is more about family than a Football Nation. Families gather around symbols of love and life and success. The Toomer's oaks symbolize everything that makes Auburn special.
Sure we can and will plant more trees. New traditions will sprout up. But an oak seedling takes many years to reach maturity. Something of which this rivalry knows little.
Put together nicely, AB
Thanks for the great bunch of links! As usual, Andy comes through.
Wow, thanks for the mention on the artwork. Apparently, it's hit the social media highway and spread like wildfire. Thanks & War Eagle!
Post a Comment