"George has passed."

 "George has passed."

Word began circulating early Sunday in our small town. The hushed tones, shaded with loss and awe, and the meandering wandering of "Is this true?" ans "How did you hear?", because it was somehow as unbelievable as it was believably inevitable.

George. 

The old fisherman.

The old farmer

The old friend.

Our man about town.

Our story teller.

Our history.

Most small towns have or have had a "George." The person who knows everyone, goes everywhere. The one who talks with everyone, and listens in return. The one who just is his marvelous self.

This is a loss, as it always is, when a piece of history drops into the infinity of the past. How strange the streets will seem, when the weather warms and human hibernations come to an end. 

Someday, sometime, a former resident will ask about him, and someone will have to share the news.

The news will be as striking as it was Sunday morning, when it was a word of mouth shout. 

This news will never be old, until all of us at the end of his story have followed him. 

Until then, let us keep his memory alive.

More importantly, let us keep his meaning alive, to share and care.

Services will be private, as is fitting. In the end, the public man 'belongs' with those he's chosen. The public man, everyone's friend, belongs firstly to himself. 

Let us give him the dignity of true respect.

Let us Remember him.

https://www.ecnurre.com/obituaries/George--R--Rooks?obId=24092725#/obituaryInfo

Tumbling Trees.

The latest reports are out on the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) eradication of the Asian longhorn beetle. The numbers are staggering, and those of you living in neighboring counties to those mentioned -- or neighboring states -- might want to take a long hard look at the numbers before you decide that it's not really anything you need to worry about.

New York, 1st detection in August 1996. They found 6,275 infested trees. They have removed 18,467 trees. That is roughly three times the amount that were 'sick'.

New Jersey. Since October 2002. 729 infested, 21,981 trees removed. This is 30 -- yes, 30 times the number of injured trees.

Massachusetts, August 2008. 22,264 infested, 31,925 removed.

Ohio June 2011. 9091 infested trees, 8809 removed.

The good people in Bethel, the most affected area in Ohio, are fighting to save their trees. They acknowledge the need for infested trees to be removed, but are objecting to the destruction of the healthy. For most tree owners, they would porefer to have the trees vaccinated.
Yes, that can be done.
It is even less expensive than tree cutters, and chippers, and mulchers, and cherry pickers and earth movers and fuel for machinery (checked the prices on the fuel lately? -- bet you have.)

I want you, wherever you are, to go out in your backyard, or to your closest, favorite public park.
Look around.
Pick a tree, any tree, since this is an exercise in imagination.
The tree you have selected is sick. It has a bug. This bug is not airborne (as they say about viruses). But the tree is sick.
Say "Good-bye, favorite tree."

Now look around and see the other trees.
See the three closest trees.
Say "good bye" to them.
They must be assassinated because their neighbor was sick.

But wait, the neighboring trees have neighbors too. Pick any number, 3 or 30 or any other number, of the neighboring trees' neighbors.
Say "good bye" to them, too. They are neighbors of the neighbors of the sick tree, so they, too, must die.

Now, look around your back yard, or your park.
Are there any trees left?
Is there any shade left in your yard?
Are there any windbreaks left around your house?
What will hold the soil in your yard when the snow melts or the rains pound down?


My friends, this can happen to you. Yes, you may live far away -- but with the likes of Superstorm Sandy, (and the USDA wasted no time laying down the law in New Jersey afterwards,) is anywhere far enough away? Yes, you may not have the specific species of bugs that are eating these species of trees.

But you DO have a government agency that says it can come in and remove and confiscate your personal property (trees) because they can.

Infested trees need to be removed. No one is arguing with that. And the government has every right to take those down at its expense for the public good.

But they are claiming the right to take down all the trees that might become bug-sick. Not just likely, but "maybe perhaps someday might."

If they are allowed to do that here, in the heart of Ohio, in the nation's scenic heart, why do you think they will stop when they get to your back yard? They will be able to point to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Ohio as having established "THE" precedent.

Goodbye backyard.
Goodbye parks.
Goodbye trees.

Help the Bethel ALB group stop this trampling of property rights.
Before it becomes your rights that are lost.

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=d9ab319101533a13ab1c45685&id=587ea78b12

Tree Aid: Concert in the Park.

I've had a hard time figuring if when and how to write about this, and I hope I haven't left it until too late to reach an audience. Preferably a large audience with deep pockets, but I don't think I know anyone like that.

The biggest drawback to my whole-hearted support is the venue. The Village of Bethel has reacted with prejudice to other events held in Burke Park. They somehow found it appropriate to blame the misconduct of individuals on the the hosts of the events, and closed down the party. So far as I know, they have also NOT refunded any of the money paid by said hosts. Win/Win for Bethel. They get to keep the money and NOT have the event through no fault of the party providers.
Yes, if you have a party at your home, and people get drunk, you are responsible for the damages, and it is your responsibility to ask the offenders to leave.
But you haven't paid out your money to have the party in your own home. When you pay someone else, the problems become somewhat theirs. If they don't want to handle the problems, and cancel the party, they need to refund the money. You see this on The People's Court every few days.

But, when all is said and done, the issues of Saving the Trees and Property Rights is more important than the venue.

The Concert is to help raise funds for the legal team. Now, there's been some talk about the legal team not doing much for "all" the money that's been raised. First of all, litigating against the government is time consuming and finicky, nit-picking work. It is done behind the desks and in the libraries and through paper after paper in the courthouses. Quite simply, it is not visible.

If you want to see visible proof that the legal team is making a difference, I suggest a drive around Bethel. In Burke Park itself stand several trees that were inoculated, not eviscerated, amputated, mutilated, and finally removed. They are still there, standing tall, helping to make today's event a success.
Drive the long lane past the schools and ball parks. See that line of trees? Every year, those trees burst or bloom into color in the autumn, creating a colorful backdrop for the return to school. This year, and for many years to come, the display of Fall Colors will not be as bright nor as varied as it has been, but there will be Fall Color.
It will be there in part because the legal team for the BethelALB group has so far preserved these trees. Had the USDA and ODA had their way, followed the original plan, there would be few of those background trees still standing.

Drive through Bethel itself. Don't you love the cool shady streets? That is, where they still exist. Compare the north side of town with the south side, where the tress have been coming down. And that's only the infested trees!
Again, had there been no legal defense team, there would be NO shaded street left in Bethel.

Look in your own yard. How many of your trees are maple? Box elder? Birch? Willow? If the Asian Longhorn Beetle is on your neighbor's property, are YOU ready to let the government remove your trees because of your neighbor's problem?

That's what it's all about, folks.

So, go to the concert today or not. That's up to you. You don't need to attend the concert to support the defense fund. You can make a donation through the web page www.bethelalb.com . You can buy any of the many products being sold to increase funding and raise awareness. You can approach a member of the ALB group and hand them cash, saying it's for the Defense of Trees.