Ohiopyle community hopes to preserve historic red oak
Ohiopyle community hopes to preserve historic tree
For generations, the towering red oak standing beside the Ohiopyle United Methodist Church has been more than a fixture of the churchyard.
It has served as a gathering place, a familiar landmark and a connection to the community’s past. Now, as concerns about the tree’s safety raise the possibility that it could be removed, residents are hoping the longtime landmark – estimated to be a century old – can be preserved.
“It’s part of the community,” said April Forkey, minister of Ohiopyle United Methodist Church. “It’s an identity thing.”
Forkey said the possibility of losing the tree has prompted an emotional response from people in the community.
“When the people in town heard that we might have to take it down, they were really sad,” she said.
The church hopes the tree can be trimmed to address safety concerns, but its future remains uncertain. Forkey said increasingly strong winds over the past years have raised concerns, and the church cannot guarantee the tree will remain standing if it is determined to be dangerous.
For Connie Plume Smithburger, who grew up in Ohiopyle and lived there until recently, the tree has long been inseparable from the church and the memories around it.
“If you said something about the church you almost had to include the tree,” Smithburger said.
Smithburger remembers church activities taking place beneath its branches, including Vacation Bible School and Sunday school gatherings. The churchyard also provided a place for members of the congregation and community to gather.
Smithburger recalled reading a poem written by Lillian McCann, a local woman who lived across from the church. The poem itself described the tree as a stalwart citizen of the town with a sturdy frame.
Smithburger said around 20 to 30 years ago, the church was having some financial issues, and members of the community pitched in to help raise the funds necessary to cable the tree and help stabilize it so it wouldn’t fall.
“They paid so that we were able to get that tree cabled,” Smithburger said.
That history of community support continues today, according to Forkey.
She described a congregation that maintains close relationships with its neighbors, with community members volunteering to paint the church, helping replace its roof and assisting when the building’s furnace failed.
For Forkey, the support reflects the relationship between the congregation and the community it serves.
“It’s just amazing,” she said. “Our church members are always connecting with the community in different ways.”
Even people passing through Ohiopyle have taken notice of the old oak.
Smithburger, who previously worked at the main concession area near Ohiopyle Falls, remembers visitors asking about the tree’s age during their trips to the area. Many, she said, were curious about how long the enormous oak had stood beside the church.
Forkey has also heard stories of visitors who return to the church specifically to touch the tree as they pass through the town.
The possibility of losing the tree is more about just the removal of an old tree. It means losing a familiar piece of the town’s history.
Smithburger acknowledged that nothing lasts forever, but said she feels fortunate the tree and church have remained together for so long.
“I feel that God has blessed that tree and our church also to have them both still together,” she said.