The North Myrtle
Beach Tree City Board has presented its Tree of the Month Award for November to
Jean Clarke and Ken Hudspeth for the care and maintenance of a twisted Pine
Tree located in their backyard. The tree is estimated to be more than 80 years
old.
Not much is known about how the pine came
by its twisted top but Ken Hudspeth, who, the reader should be warned, is known
for spinning a good yarn, offers this perspective.
During the 1950s,
the property on which the tree now stands was part of a farm. When Hurricane
Hazel passed through North Myrtle Beach, it wreaked havoc on trees and
structures alike. When the storm had passed, the owner of the farm went out to
survey the damage on his land and found a strange situation. The pine tree had
not broken during the hurricane but its top was twisted. On one of its twisted
limbs, the farmer saw a cat.
After several attempts to get it down, he was
successful. Looking up again, he saw a cow straddling one of the twisted
branches, ostensibly tossed there by the storm’s high winds. It was a huge
undertaking, but the farmer managed to get the cow out of the tree. As he
turned to walk away after having saved the cow, he heard a clanging sound.
Turning back around, he looked up into the twisted pine and saw a cow bell
hanging by its leather strap from one of the twisted limbs. For several years,
the cow bell ringing in the wind drew attention to the twisted pine tree. After
several years, the leather strap to which the bell was attached disintegrated,
and the bell fell to the ground. No one really looked up to notice the twisted
pine after that, and so it was left alone to grow into the unique tree that it
is today.
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