Standing tall

With demise of P.E.I.’s largest tree, Islanders wonder at next to hold title

One of P.E.I.’s grandest trees has returned to the earth from which it came, leaving those who marvelled at its grandeur to wonder what specimen will take up its standing.

An ancient elm, officially dubbed P.E.I.’s Biggest Tree, grew on private property on Russell Street in Victoria, until it was recently cut down. The tree had become infected with Dutch elm disease and some of its once mighty branches had started to rot, becoming safety hazards.

The towering elm had been a focal point for the community and countless visitors to the picturesque village had admired it.

In fact, Victoria was so proud of this particular specimen that, in 2010, it declared the Great Big Tree Challenge to see if any other tree on the island could exceed its measurements. Victoria’s giant measured 102-feet-tall, with a chest-high circumference of 21feet and a canopy reach of 129feet.

Pam Price is one of the original organizers of the tree challenge and also owned the champion Victoria elm. She has countless stories of visitors coming to Victoria to see the tree and taking a lot of joy in that, she said.

“They just loved it, kids, everybody.”

Visitation to the elm jumped after the Great Big Tree Challenge, she said, and Islanders became invested in the results.

“I would say every year we had people coming in, Islanders coming in, saying ‘Well, our tree was big too,’ or ‘We were the second biggest’ or third biggest. So, there’s definitely still an interest there.”

The contest touched on something with Islanders and it quickly became a popular subject of debate and discussion.

The runner-up was declared to be in East Baltic with a 19-foot circumference with a 95-foot canopy. Two trees with similar measurements earned a tie for third place; a tree on Arcona Street in Summerside with a circumference of about 20 feet and an 84-feet canopy and a tree in Woodland Mills with a canopy of 84 feet.

So, with the demise of P.E.I.’s reigning ‘biggest tree’, more than a few Islanders are now engaged in a new debate of where exactly the new champion can be found.

Marian Gaworecki of St. Nicholas, just outside Miscouche, is one such wonderer.

Gaworecki is from Toronto, but relocated to P.E.I. a few years ago. One of the trees on his property is a maple dwarfing the house next to it.

When Gaworecki heard of the Victoria giant’s felling, he wondered if the tree dominating his yard might be a contender to take its mantle.

“It’s the interest of people … I think a lot of people will be happy if this tree is the number one,” said Gaworecki.

While he can wonder at whether his tree is now the largest, getting some kind of official designation is another story.

The Great Big Tree Challenge was a one-time event put on by the community of Victoria. Crowning a new biggest tree will, for the time being, remain a subject of conjecture.