Full Text:

Forest Assn Looks For Largest White Ash

(with graphics)

Newtown Forest Association is seeking entrants in its continuing contest to

find the largest white ash tree in town.

On August 27, the association will award $500 to the person or organization

which reports the location and circumference of the largest living white ash

in town in its Annual Tree Hunt contest, according to Charles Perry, the

association's contest coordinator.

The association also will award commemorative white ash Louisville Slugger

baseball bats to those who submit entries documenting the five next largest

white ash trees. An association baseball cap will be provided to all entrants.

The white ash was chosen to commemorate the 1998 baseball season's "Year of

the Home Run." White ash is the tree from which most baseball bats are made.

The tree's shape, leaves and bark identify it as white ash. A prime example of

a white ash can be found growing out of a stone wall on the south side of

Borough Lane, just west of Queen Street. This particular tree may be the

largest white ash in town, so the tree hunt contest may actually locate the

second largest white ash in town, according to the forest association.

The winning tree may be growing on public or private land in Newtown.

Contestants must have the owner's permission before entering private property.

White ash, the largest of all ashes, is a leading commercial hardwood tree.

The tree grows singly or in small groups with other hardwoods, or hemlock, or

white pine or spruce.

A mature white ash can grow 100 feet tall with a trunk over six feet in

diameter. Besides baseball bats, its wood is used for making polo mallets,

hockey sticks, oars and tool handles.

The association will plant offspring of the winning tree on its property and

will offer other trees to Newtown residents to plant on their own land.

White ash tree contest entries must be submitted by August 20.

Information on the contest and entry forms are available at C.H. Booth

Library, 25 Main Street. For details, send a stamped self-addressed envelope

to Newtown Forest Association, PO Box 213, Newtown, CT 06470.

The association is a non-profit organization staffed by volunteers.