Farewell to a Main Street mainstay
Allentown's large white ash surrenders to old age
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer
There's no one alive who saw the white ash when it was just a sapling, but many who live in the Allentown area today shared in the wonders of the tree's golden years.

JEFF GRANIT staff Allen's Tree Service cuts down the large white ash on Main Street in Allentown on May 1. The tree, which was estimated to be more than 200 years old, likely succumbed to old age.

Before the only Fraxinus Americana on Main Street succumbed to old age and finally departed from this world on May 1, it towered 70 feet in the sky and was an estimated 200 years old.

The McLaughlins inherited the tree when they moved into the home at 76 N. Main St. 22 years ago. Not only did it shade their home and provide endless enjoyment for their family, friends and cats, it also served as a centerpiece for town discussion.

"We're all very sad," Jeff McLaughlin said. "So many people drive by and notice the tree and stop to talk about it."

Last Thursday morning was no different. Although the sign in front of the McLaughlin residence read, "Another job by Allen's Tree Service," it clearly wasn't just another job.

Allen's Tree Service cut down the white ash on Main Street in Allentown on April 29. Clockwise from top: A bucket lifts a worker high above Main Street to get at one of the branches. Using a chain saw, Edward Ashwood cuts a wedge out of a limb. A tree-service employee tightens a rope around the base of the tree, which had a 21-foot circumference at the root. Rodolfo Walle stands next to newly felled limbs.

As seven men in red T-shirts and orange hard hats scampered about like beavers in a flurry of saw dust, the McLaughlins greeted neighbors and passers-by, who expressed their sentiments in memorial of the great white coming down before their eyes.

Allen Wenc, the owner of Allen's Tree Service, of Cream Ridge, expressed sadness at losing the white ash. He said he worked with the McLaughlins for over 20 years doing everything they could to try to save the tree.

"It's a shame it's dying," Wenc said.

Wenc said the tree likely died of old age, possibly rushed by road construction work since its decline in health started in the front. He said any kind of damage done to a tree's roots usually doesn't appear to the naked eye until five to six years later. He also said that a tree is like a person in that when it's young, it can sustain injury and heal rather easily and when it's old, it doesn't readily mend.

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff

"It lived its life," McLaughlin said. "Could it have lived a little longer if it didn't have cars going past it and didn't have to suck up all that pollution? Probably."

Taking care of the giant wasn't easy and was expensive, according to McLaughlin. Over the years, his family hired tree surgeons to remove dead limbs, had the tree deep fertilized, which entails drilling 6-foot holes and packing them with fertilizer, and made sure to be present during trimming for power lines.

The tree responded well to their care but started losing its foliage about five years ago. Each year, the family would await new spring growth, but while other trees in the neighborhood burst with new buds, their white ash grew more and more bare.

"This year it was obviously dead all over," Jeff said.

Then, onApril 30, the family heard a thud only to discover that a large limb had fallen into the middle of their driveway and splintered onto the neighbors' lawns.

"When the tree started dropping limbs it became a liability," Jeff said. "I have a 14-year-old son and people walk down the street."

His wife, Vickie, said, "None of us wants to do this.We all tried as much as we could to save it. We love our trees."

The couple said their son Sean, 14, is devastated about the tree coming down.

"He's extremely upset," Jeff said. "My son and I used to sit out here every Saturday afternoon in the summer. We'd knock off from Saturday work with a cold soda for him and a coffee for me."

Vickie recalled having made up a story about the tree to tell her son when he was a little boy. She told him a tale about a family of bunnies that lived in the shelter of the tree's boughs.

The ash wasn't just home to fabled animals. Jeff said, "All of our cats have been up and down the tree and infinite amounts of birds have lived in that tree."

The family invited the local Shade Tree Commission to come to their home to count the rings in the tree's trunk, which had a 21-foot diameter. However, the commission didn't send a representative on the fateful day.

"The ash is slow growing; that's why we know it's at least a couple of hundred years old," Jeff said. "The house is circa 1760."

The family also has a picture from 1920 in which the tree is visible in an area that still consisted mainly of farmland.

Jeff also shared that "the apocryphal story is that the tree got hit by lightning and that's why it split into many branches."

The white ash is native to New Jersey. Found in residential areas since they are an attractive, hardy and relatively disease-free tree, white ashes usually reach 70-80 feet in height. The tops of their leaves are dark green and shiny, whereas the bottoms of their leaves are pale green with tiny hairs. The light gray-brown bark has deep, narrow ridges that form a diamond shaped pattern.

The white ash is most famous for being the best wood for baseball bats and other sports equipment. The wood is tough and does not break under large amounts of strain and can be bent into different shapes without losing strength.

The wood from the McLaughlin white ash will not go wasted. The family saved some of the wood to make bowls. Art Diebel, a wood artist from Upper Freehold, took some of the wood to make other objects. Wenc also said his workers would take some of the wood to make tables and decorative objects and to use as firewood.

As the family watched pieces of their beloved tree turn back into dust, they contemplated a birth announcement. They talked about what kind of tree they would soon plant to replace their white ash.

"Maybe a copper beech?" Jeff said.