AJ Hunter uses a skid steer to move a portion of the trunk of the ‘Gentle Giant’ tree at the Bayless/Salyer House, which was felled during a windstorm in Cassville on May 26. Tree Tech Tree Service donated its services to remove the massive pine tree, which was about 100 years old and the tallest in Cassville for a period of time. The remains of the pine were loaded into a trailer and taken to the city of Cassville’s storm vegetation debris drop-off point east of the Cassville Municipal Airport. Slabs from part of the trunk were also cut off to use later in a memorial at the house. Kyle Troutman/ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
Ricky Swearingen, with Tree Tech Tree Service, slices a slab of the “Gentle Giant” off for later display at the Historic Bayless/Salyer House. The tree, destroyed by a May 26 windstorm, was about 100 years old and the tallest in Cassville for some time. Lynn Hilburn, with the Barry County Genealogical and Historical Society, which owns the house, said portions taken from the giant pine may be engraved for a sign for the house or hung on the porch. Tree Tech donated its services to the Society, and the Cassville-based company also donated more than $5,000 of work at the American Legion grounds as a result of the windstorm damage. Kyle Troutman/ktroutman@cassville-democrat.comAJ Hunter, left, uses a skid steer to load a portion of the “Gentle Giant” into a trailer to be hauled to the city of Cassville’s storm vegetation debris drop-off point east of the Cassville Municipal Airport. At right, Ricky Swearingen cuts a slab of the pine tree’s trunk for later display at the Historic Bayless/Salyer House, where the tree stood for about 100 years. Assisting in the day’s effort was Wyatt Stehlik. Kyle Troutman/ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com
