Her giant black walnut tree just won a beauty pageant in Fergus, Ont.
CBC
Heather-Jane Maurice never expected to see the magnificent tree on her front lawn win a beauty pageant.
After all, her black walnut tree has been just a normal part of everyday life since she bought it in 1981 along with the house and property surrounding it.
On Oct. 1, the tree — which is about 70 feet tall and stretches out to over 100 feet across Maurice's front yard, will receive the honour of being sashed as Centre Wellington's 2023 Tree of the Year.
Maurice said this particular tree in Fergus, Ont. has really earned its honours.
"Everything else is 'the maple', 'the spruce' and there there's 'the Tree'," she said. "I mean we have other black walnuts... but this is 'The Tree'... Mr. Tree."
Maurice's tree beat out 40 other contestants around Centre Wellington.
Tree Trust, the organization behind the Tree of the Year contest, has estimated the tree was planted into the ground around the time Maurice's house was built in 1867.
That makes the massive black walnut tree at least 150 years old.
Tree Trust also hosted other tree pageants held across Southern Ontario, including in Stratford-Perth, Waterloo region and Meaford.
Maurice's tree is the only 2023 winner located on someone's front lawn.
Toni Ellis, executive director of Tree Trust, said you have to consider the history the tree has lived through to really appreciate how uncommon it is to still be there.
"Hurricane Hazel, years of drought, years of blizzards, a really tough environment," Ellis said. "The climate is increasingly erratic. These are survivor trees."
Maurice said the tree has many admirers — but not everyone has noticed it for the right reasons.
"At one point, the elderly lady next door when we first moved in said when we were going on vacation ... 'OK dear, I'll watch your tree', and I said why? And she said at that time, people would go on vacation and they come home and the tree is gone," Maurice said.
WARNING: This story contains profanity and details of racist language.
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