Left: July 2001 photo of the Honking Tree from the Two Harbors Forum website. Right: The modern remains of the Honking Tree stump between Larsmont Road and Isaacson Road southwest of Two Harbors. Photo by Mike Creger.
I asked Lake County Sheriff Carey Johnson this month if there was anything new in the now 10-year-old Honking Tree case.
“You mean the white pine murder investigation?” he said straightaway.
New song “Honking Tree” commemorating the White Pine cut down by vandals last April. Written by amateur songwriter Greg Connor.
Like many North Shore residents, commentator Catherine Conlan had come to see the 113-year-old white pine as much more than a tree.
Mayor Bolen of Two Harbors will be convening a public meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at the Two Harbor Community Center to discuss ideas for using the remains of the Honking Tree.
Suggestions?
The sad story of the “Honking Tree” got national media play in Canada last night on CBC Radio’s “As It Happens.” I’m not sure if the segment was included in the edited-down version of the show that airs on MPR.
The tree segment is a few minutes in; you have to wait through a couple of other segments.
Please add to our soon-to-be rejected police procedural script:
Someone has cut down the beloved tree just outside of town. The tree is famous for being saved from ruin when the big highway was put in years ago. People came to like the tree and honked at it as if it was welcoming them into their town. Some even say it would wave back. It became known as the “honking tree.”
Scene of people gathering at cut tree, offering stories, memories. Some tears. Very folksy small-town scene where everyone seems to know everyone with a strong sense of community.
Enter our detective heroes. They talk to the cops, who say they’ve spoken to all the usual suspects and haven’t come up with anything.
