Date: Fri 30-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Forest-Association-tree

Full Text:

Town's Biggest Ash Will Win A Bat

(with cut)

The Newtown Forest Association wants you to take a crack at winning a new

baseball bat by locating the largest white ash tree growing in town.

The top five entries in the association's annual tree hunt contest will

receive replica bats of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig or Pee Wee Reese. An association

baseball cap will be given to everyone who submits an entry to the contest.

In August, the association will award $500 in cash to the first Newtown person

or organization to have reported the location of the largest living white ash

in town.

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 in fact be the largest white ash in town, so the contest may actually be

to locate the second largest white ash in town, according to the contest

organizers.

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 in association with other hardwoods,

or hemlock, or white pine or spruce.

A mature white ash can grow 100 feet tall and over six feet in diameter. Its

wood is used for making bats, 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. The

association is a non-profit organization staffed by volunteers.

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 contest runs

through August 6.