Black walnut tree uniquely grows in all directions

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

The tree behind Ethel Freel?s home south of Millersburg looks like something right out of a Harry Potter movie. One can easily imagine the branches scooping someone up and holding them in the air, much like the computer-generated whomping willow in Warner Brothers? fictional movie series.

The difference is Millersburg isn?t Hogwarts and the mammoth black walnut behind Ethel?s home is very real — and it seems to do have a mind of its own. The branches grow in every direction whether it?s toward the sky or inches from the ground.

THE TREE could actually be categorized somewhere between Harry Potter and Dr. Seuss. The branches extend away from the trunk and have uniquely grown sideways and right ways, left ways and down ways.

Bricks were placed under thicker branches close to the ground about 15 years ago, so they don?t take root. Well-placed bricks and a thick bolt and nut saved one large branch from splitting. The tree healed itself, scabbing up over the split.

Family members believe the oddities may be the result of a lightning strike in the 1950s. Joyce Milostan, Ethel?s daughter, who remembers when it was normal, said the tree was measured, and according to one Web site, it is among the widest in the nation, if not the widest.

CUTTING GRASS has never been easy, with hats and heads getting swatted by branches. While the care of the tree has been a challenge for years, the children of the family and squirrels always have loved climbing its branches. Milostan estimates that three generations of children have enjoyed the natural jungle gy

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?We actually had a springer spaniel that would climb the branches and try to catch the squirrels,? said Joyce. ?It was a riot to watch her.? Milostan?s parents, the late Maurice and Ethel Freel, celebrated their 40th anniversary underneath it, so it?s always had a sentimental place among the family.

AND WHEN the leaves fall off in the coming weeks, Milostan said residents of the area can get a clear look at it and see, ?It is beautiful.? And when the day arrives, God forbid, the tree has a wind gust with its number on it, the timber will have a financial value and can be used for gunstocks.

The sentimental value is harder to gauge, much like the age, as tree is believed to be about 100 years old, or as old as Millersburg. At its current pace, it might be as wide as Millersburg, in, say another 100 years.

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