Unscientific Survey: Swarthmore’s Favorite Tree
Drew and Nancy Forbes (left) celebrate their winning tree together with Swarthmorean survey editor Ben Yagoda and Scott Arboretum director Claire Sawyers.
It probably shouldn’t be surprising that in Swarthmore, tradition is a trump card. In voting for Swarthmore’s favorite tree, readers went with history, giving a plurality (28%) to the venerable white oak tree on the property of Drew and Nancy Forbes at 504 Walnut Lane. Here’s how it was described by David Page, chair of the Swarthmore Tree Committee:
“It’s called the Penn oak because it was alive at the time William Penn established the colony of Pennsylvania in the late 1600s. (Penn died in 1718). This would make the tree more than 300 years old. It is very likely the oldest tree in Swarthmore, and arguably has the greatest historical significance.”
If you still haven’t seen it, the best view is from Hillborn Avenue.
A close second, at 26%, was the majestic American elm on the campus of Swarthmore College, which was perhaps unfairly disadvantaged by limited access during construction. But those are the breaks.
As Swarthmorean editor Rachel Pastan discovered in perusing back issues, this wasn’t the first time the newspaper sponsored a tree contest. Back in 2001, people were asked to nominate their own trees, and winners were chosen (the method was not specified) in different categories:
Best evergreen: Southern magnolia, Jim and Ann Hazard, Cedar Lane.
Best deciduous: Maple, Chick and Eudora Gerner, South Princeton Avenue.
Grandest: Sycamore, Stephen and Mary Hinds, Elm Avenue.
This year’s contest drew a lively response on social media, with a number of commenters noting that there weren’t any nominees from south of Yale Avenue (the north-south divide might be a subject for a future survey). Bethany Formica nominated her elm at 322 Park Ave., James Verdi the tulip poplar at Yale and Kenyon, Ines Rodriguez another tulip poplar on Union Avenue, and Andrejs Penikis an old oak on Morgan Circle, which he dubbed “Billy Penn.”
Kristin Ives weighed in, “One of my favorite Swarthmore trees is at the Bergstroms’ front yard on Riverview near Ogden. When the Lawrences lived there, their corgis would drink from the water that pooled pockets at the roots just like they were water bowls!”
There are no losers when it comes to great trees, but someone has to come in last and in this case it was the dawn redwood at 222 Cornell Ave. Don Lessem wrote that it deserves a second look, not only because it’s “elegant” but because of its own history: “This Metasequoia has Dinosaur Age origins, and was thought long extinct until discovered in a remote Chinese valley nearly a century ago.”
Ben Yagoda is the Swarthmorean’s survey editor.
Swarthmore Tree-Shirt Winners
Bob and Jodi Dawes
Bill and Aurora Cody
Robin Schaufler
Six enthusiastic and intrepid readers (or pairs of readers) sent selfies with all nine Swarthmore’s Favorite Tree candidates, thereby winning a Swarthmorean T-shirt. The winners are:
Aurora Cody and Bill Cody
Jodi Dawes and Bob Dawes
Sue Edwards
Kathleen Howard McCambridge and Jim McCambridge
Robin Schauffler
Sindu Srinivas
Congratulations and thanks for participating!
