The "getting" tree

No, this isn't some twisted version of Silverstein's beloved children's book. Or is it? Some may know of the three-hundred (some say one thousand) year old oak tree that dominates Texas Avenue in our eastern neighbor, Baytown. Legend says that General Sam Houston once camped under this tree prior to the battle of San Jacinto.

It has now been the casualty of yet another hit and run. Apparently, this giant has been the victim of several attacks by not only vehicles, but also several threats of the axe, and an anonymous attempted herbicide in 1989.

In one incident, a woman claimed to have dropped her cellular phone while driving, causing her to hit the tree. She was later tracked down after her abandoned, wrecked car was found in a Food Town Parking lot, and was given a ticket for failure to stop and provide information (and render aid?). The police weren't so successful at tracking down the perpetrator in the latest incident, but did manage to collect a few pieces of car and take them to an auto parts store (although the clerk unfortunately couldn't decipher the make of the car from the fragments...).

The Baytown Downtown Association hopes to make the landscaping wider and longer around the tree, to give it greater visibility (all it would need now is a sign on it that reads "tree," for those that still don't get it). Plans could also include lighting and sound equipment for special occasions and holidays.

Photo: Baytown Sun