treefall

Another Class of 1993 alumnus messaged me today that I might want to share my photos of Chambers during the reunion weekend as they may have been the last or most recent photos of Chambers and it iconic cedars before the trees were damaged by heavy storms around the July 4th weekend. The damage is so sever, the trees will have to come down. And beyond their beauty and history with the college, they are some serious trees in the aboral world.


Excerpts from the News from Davidson College:

Heavy rains and winds during a July 4 evening storm are claiming some of the most prominent features of the Davidson College landscape -- the two Eastern Red Cedar trees flanking the front steps of Chambers Building.

One of them lost major branches and substantial portions of its canopy during the storm. The split within the tree revealed that the primary trunk is losing its structural integrity due to cavities forming within. College grounds officials have determined that the tree's imbalance and evidence of additional splits necessitate its retirement from service to the college community.

...

The precise date the two campus icons were planted is unknown, but photographs from the Davidson College archives indicate it occurred during the 1930s.

Eastern Red Cedars are common throughout this region, but the size of this pair has made them noteworthy in the botanical community. The species commonly reach 40 to 50 feet in height, but the Chambers Building pair topped 75 feet.

In addition to providing a symmetrical front for the college's signature building, the two Chambers cedars were decorated with holiday lights as the backdrop of the college's annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. That practice was abandoned during the past few years because the top of the cedars exceeded the capacity of college lift equipment, and concern grew over the weight of the lights suspended on the trees.

The trees were also an accomplice for a memorable student prank. On the night before a Commencement ceremony last decade, students scaled the cedars to access the dome atop Chambers Building, which they decorated with pipe and fabric to mimic a giant graduation mortarboard.