​While doing research on Teddy Roosevelt for last week’s blog, I came across this story which is probably part factual and part legend but fun nonetheless
 
From everything I read, TR was a wonderful father, but in 1902 he made a decision that was unpopular with his six kids. He banned Christmas trees in the White House. He probably felt chopping down a perfectly good tree merely to use it as a decoration for a few weeks wasn’t right.
 
Two people dared to disobey the most powerful man in the country. His sons 8-year-old Archie and 6-year old Quentin were the culprits.  Unbeknownst to their father, they cut down a little conifer that was growing on the White House property, snuck it into the White House, and set it up in a rarely used room. They decorated the tree with lots of homemade ornaments and possibly electric lights with the help of the house electrician.
 
On December 25tth, the boys proudly led their family to their little Christmas tree. One can only imagine TR’s response to this unexpected development.  Possibly he was proud of his spunky sons, or possibly he was angry. The story continues that TR called in Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot to explain to the boys why cutting down the tree was a bad idea. To his surprise, Pinchot told them there are benefits to selection cutting as a way to manage forests. The following Christmas, a large, beautifully decorated tree graced the White House with TR’s blessing.
 
Wishing you all Happy Holidays!

​On a recent First Thursday Hike at the Fells, Simon Parson, the Education Director of the John Hay Estate, proudly introduced the group to the Roosevelt Tree which is a large sugar maple a short walk from the impressive main house.  Simon explained that in August of 1902, Teddy Roosevelt spent the night at the estate (in what is now known as the Roosevelt Bedroom) while on a campaign tour through New England.
 
I can picture TR walking with the Hays and picking out a nice spot to plant the maple sapling. Simon asked our forestry guide Dode Gladders how much longer than its current 120 years he thought the tree would live. I’m happy to report that Dode believes the tree will live for another hundred or maybe even another two hundred years.
 
Learning about this Roosevelt tree made me wonder if our 26th president was in the habit of gifting and planting trees. I was beyond pleased to find out that trees were his go-to housewarming gift.
 
His penchant for planting trees may have started in the 1890s when he planted a copper beech near the entrance to his new estate Sagamore Hill on Long Island in New York.  Fungus was the trees demise in 2019 but a new cooper beech tree was planted in its place. The wood from the old beech was repurposed as benches around what is now a National Historic Site.
 
Roosevelt didn’t plant the same type of tree but chose trees based on the climate. In 1903 when TR took his first trip to California, he planted a palm tree that stands to this day.
 
In 1905 Roosevelt went on a whirlwind tour of Texas. He spent 75 minutes in Fort Worth which included a quick stop at the Carnegie Library on Main Street--just long enough to plant an elm tree.
 
The University of Idaho folks were thrilled when Roosevelt paid a visit in April of 1911. His planting a blue spruce tree on campus drew a huge crowd. A celebration was held in 2011 to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of his historic visit and no doubt admire the famous spruce.
 
I wonder if TR ever heard that Chinese proverb “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today.”  

Blustery wind and impending snow didn't stop a hearty group of 20 folks from attending December’s First Thursday Hike at The Fells. I learned so much great information from Dode Gladders, Forestry Field Specialist with UNH Cooperative Extension who led the walk. I remembered Dode from attending his terrific deciduous tree identification workshop for the garden club in September of 2021 so knew I was in for a great talk. 
 
Dode covered too much to explain here but I wanted to share two interesting stories. We stopped by a very strange looking tree with a dying left side and a healthy right side. Dode explained that a beech tree grew up so closely to a sugar maple that they became somewhat entwined. The beech was dying because of a multi-pronged attack. First its bark was drilled into by beech bark scales, invasive insects that have been spreading slowly from Nova Scotia since they were inadvertently introduced in the 1890s.  They can’t fly but have been walking south and have reached our area. The scales have mouths like hypodermic syringes which they use to penetrate the bark and suck out some sap. That doesn’t cause a problem to the beech tree in itself but two types of Neonectria fungi gang up to infiltrate those tiny holes and cause thousands of little infections that eventually kill the tree. As Dode explained, human diseases are mostly caused by bacteria and viruses while most tree infections are caused by fungi.
 
At a sugar maple tree, Dode pointed out a line of small round holes created by the yellow bellied sapsucker. This woodpecker pounds a line of the holes then flies off for a while giving the sap time to ooze out which attracts insects. When the woodpecker returns, it enjoys the protein rich insects followed by a sweet sap dessert.
 
The John Hay Estate at The Fells runs the First Thursday hikes all year round and is free to members. For non-members the hike is included with the cost of admission. There are different leaders and different walks each month. 

Despite wet instead of white precipitation, nothing dampened the holiday spirit of the 200 plus folks who piled into the Grantham Town Hall to enjoy some pancakes and meet the Big Guy himself along with his delightful wife.  Mr. and Mrs. Claus came by fire engine with sirens blasting to herald their arrival.
 
A few weeks ago, Emily Rinde-Thorsen who is the Grantham Recreation Department, reached out to the garden club asking for volunteers to dole out breakfast which turned out to be an easy sell.  So were the pancakes and sausage which were paid for with unwrapped toys and food items to be donated to a local charity. As the party was drawing to a close, the GGC volunteers watched the clock to see if the time or the pancakes would run out first. Luckily, the pancakes (just barely) lasted for the entire event.
 
The wide-eyed children were a joy to see dressed in their red and green finery. Santa was so gentle and kind that not one child shed a tear. Santa even got off his chair and onto the floor beside one toddler who was too shy to sit on his lap. Mrs. Claus explained that her husband has been hiking a lot lately and is slimmer and trimmer than we expected. We’re pleased that Santa is taking good care of himself.
 
Emily also recruited a bunch of fabulous Lebanon High School teens to help with crowd control, hand out gifts, replenish hot chocolate, and take care of all the clean up. Appropriately, they wore elf hats.
 
The main take-away from the garden club volunteers was that Grantham is a wonderful town for families and children. Everyone wants to join in again next December.