A Tree Keeps A Memory

By Kendra Bobowick

It is just a little tree that barely casts a shadow.

Waist-high with pale green boughs, the sapling blue spruce that went into the ground in the fall outside the Edmond Town Hall sits in the shade of a mature spruce more than 50 feet tall. Along the right-hand drive leading to the building’s back parking lot, the young tree saw a handful of visitors Monday morning.

Carol Recht supplied the tree donated by friends Lewis and Marian Scharpf of Auburn Alabama in memory of Carol’s husband Richard Recht, 1935–2006. She walked with building administrator Tom Mahoney, administrative assistant Marcy Becker, and building superintendent Clark Kathan as the group walked toward the firehouse near where the tree is growing. As they skirted the tree, Mr Kathan pressed the post of a plaque into the ground — a quiet remembrance of Mr Recht. Describing the moment as both sad and happy, Ms Recht said, “It’s a good thing to do.”

Although Monday’s date, August 25, was not necessarily significant, the time was right for the fir. “We just wanted to be sure it was growing,” Ms Recht said. The immature tree had come through the winter and enjoyed a health spring and fall this year.

Stepping back to admire the plaque and small spruce, Mr Mahoney noted, “That’s going to be a big tree one day.” How big? Glancing at the bigger spruce roughly 20 feet away, Ms Recht noted, “If you let them grow, they can get pretty big.”