Forest Association Contest Winners

By Steve Bigham

The winners of the Newtown Forest Association’s annual “find the biggest tree” contest were honored last Sunday morning atop Holcombe Hill at Great Hill Road.

This year’s challenge was to find the largest white ash and the contestants came up with some mammoth findings. Newtown resident Steven Carmichael, a local tree surgeon, discovered the biggest tree. Mr Carmichael, who was featured in last week’s Bee, was awarded $500 (which he donated back to the forest association) and a Lou Gehrig commemorative baseball bat. All Major League baseball bats are made out of white ash.

The four runners up were also presented bats and Newtown Forest Association caps. Karla Spencer found her tree on the Sugar Lane property of Cliff Walker, her grandfather. Dick Masser’s tree sits in his backyard along Poverty Hollow Road. Mark Huffman of Taunton Lake Drive, found his white ash in his backyard, too. Sallie and Mike Meffert’s white ash is located on their Gelding Hill Road property.

This year’s event was the third annual. Last year, contestants were asked to find the town’s largest white pine. In 1997, contestants went out in search of the largest shagbark hickory. The contest was originally suggest by NFA member Allen Flouton.

The 1999 event coordinators were NFA members Brian Hennessey and Charles Perry.

According to the forest association’s Wes Gillingham, the delay in announcing the winners was due to the length of time it took to receive the official measurements from the state. Also, during the process, NFA officials discovered that Newtown was home to the largest Japanese spruce in the state.