{"id":139,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-05-13 23:16:05","latitude":30.637894559931456939239069470204412937164306640625,"longitude":-97.6625489075662471805117093026638031005859375,"title":"Story Tree, Re-remembered","subtitle":"What should we do when one of Southwestern&#039;s beloved memory places is dying?","fullsize":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/1043a2c7bc7ab5e79fa4590a04a98bcb.jpg","address":"","all_locations":[],"zoom":16,"creator":["Bob Bednar '89"],"description":"In early November, 2025, people started noticing that one of the Story Tree’s main limbs had broken off and fallen to the ground.  <br />\r\n<br />\r\nOne of those people was Josh Long, Professor of Environmental Studies, who emailed a group of faculty and staff known to care for the Story Tree, including me both as an alum and as Director of the Placing Memory Project, wondering what if anything could be done to diagnose the problem and prevent further damage to the tree.  <br />\r\n<br />\r\nA few days later, Dr. Long shared information he received from Dr. Stephanie Adams, the Statewide Arborist for AgriLife Extension at Texas A&amp;M.  Dr. Adams who had looked at the tree on Google Map satellite images and provided the provisional diagnosis that the growths on the tree appeared to be from a disease called crown gall.  <br />\r\n<br />\r\nCrown gall is caused by the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which produces woody blister-like growths called conks on affected trees, eventually weakening and killing them. Gary Pastushok, Williamson County, AgriLife Extension Horticulture Agent, later confirmed this diagnosis with an on-site inspection, and wrote an article about it that was published in the Williamson County Sun.  <br />\r\n<br />\r\nMeanwhile, while we all were absorbing that bad news, Dr. Long also asked people on the email thread if there was any way to collect the wood from the fallen limb and use it for art projects or memorabilia in the form of cross-section pieces called “tree cookies.”  <br />\r\n<br />\r\nEveryone involved loved the idea, and asked Dinah Ritchie in MarComm and Marie Muhvic in University Relations to look into the possibility of engaging fans of the Story Tree in a fundraising campaign that would literally allow people to keep a piece of the tree for themselves while working to preserve the tree. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nThat’s when Gary Pastushok confirmed that there was another way to create a placeable memory of the Story Tree: by propagating seedlings from the tree as well, creating little clones of the tree, &quot;Baby Story Trees.&quot; <br />\r\n<br />\r\nAs of May 2026, plans are underway to use Sustainability S.A.F.E. funding to initially defray the costs of producing “tree cookies” and “Baby Story Trees” from the fallen limb to raise additional funds to continue to preserve the tree and its legacy long-term.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/1043a2c7bc7ab5e79fa4590a04a98bcb.jpg":{"id":690,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Story Tree with fallen limb","description":"creator | November 10, 2025 | Bob Bednar","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/1043a2c7bc7ab5e79fa4590a04a98bcb.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/0540fd9f6f502a819c75325f90b7a4fb.jpg":{"id":691,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Story Tree with fallen limb","description":"Creator | November 10, 2025 | Bob Bednar","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/0540fd9f6f502a819c75325f90b7a4fb.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/9e0d4f87c6549ae22a05180436cc6af0.jpg":{"id":692,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Story Tree with fallen limb","description":"Creator | November 10, 2025 | Bob Bednar","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/9e0d4f87c6549ae22a05180436cc6af0.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/896c26900af4e0bbc2d7c6f0407fa2db.jpg":{"id":693,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Fallen limb from Story Tree","description":"Creator | November 10, 2025 | Bob Bednar","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/896c26900af4e0bbc2d7c6f0407fa2db.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/f2ce0c7e0d30f54e35df45bab4cac7e5.jpg":{"id":694,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Story Tree with fallen limb","description":"Creator | November 10, 2025 | Bob Bednar","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/f2ce0c7e0d30f54e35df45bab4cac7e5.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/105b8b0ac5df62fdd693c009b783e486.jpg":{"id":695,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Story Tree with fallen limb and yellow caution tape","description":"Creator | November 10, 2025 | Bob Bednar","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/105b8b0ac5df62fdd693c009b783e486.jpg"},"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/fullsize/64755b7591b351597c1c028078d9ea25.jpg":{"id":696,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Story Tree with fallen limb","description":"Creator | November 10, 2025 | Bob Bednar","thumbnail":"https://placingmemory.southwestern.edu/files/square_thumbnails/64755b7591b351597c1c028078d9ea25.jpg"}}}