Dothan Alabama's Misplaced Cabbage Palm

At the very top of a hard clay hill in Southeast Alabama, across 6 busy highway lanes from the newest, shiniest, Wal-Marts in town stood one of the tallest Cabbage Palm trees ever seen here abouts. Located on what used to be the old Gregory Farm, it stood sentinel over the property while it evolved from farm to pasture, to fallow land, to just an over grown weed patch, taken over by scrub oaks, trash, and whatever else turns up on a piece of once loved, now lonely land. At some point years ago, a developer acquired the property, with the intention of building a shopping center, with a Target store to be the anchor. After preliminary drillings, ect., the economy changed, and the land lay as it was for a few more years. In 2001, it was sold to a developer from Georgia, who promptly began bull dozing.

The tall old cabbage palm was all that remained. Mysteriously, underneath it's meager shade appeared a beach chair, an umbrella, and several pink flamingoes, prompting much speculation as to who put them there and what was their significance. Negotiations with Planning Commissions, retail outlets, and City and County Commissions drug on and on, just recently were things finalized and digging began in earnest. A lone Environmentalist approached the developer about the old Palm tree. Well, yes, it was going to be bulldozed. Why yes, she was welcome to it, but would have to move it herself. Claiming lack of funds, local Agencies declined to help. She was able to obtain a fine space for the tree to be moved to, in the local Botanical Garden, but they, neither, could help with moving it.

Remembering Ace Hardware as "The Helpful Place", she approached the local store. A few days later, there appeared on site their garden store manager with a flat bed truck. The wind was blowing, the earth was scorched from weeks of dry weather, and it was sizzling hot already. First, there were hundreds of deteriorating concrete blocks from an old cattle water trough built from concrete that had collapsed around the tree to be moved. The Hispanic construction crew spoke very little English and seemed not to understand that the blocks were not to be loaded onto the truck.

Then, a skull fell out of the tree, thought to be a dog's skull, but the Hispanic crew insisted that the skull must go back into the leaves of the tree. Finally, the huge fork lift lifted the tree, with it's 7 foot root ball, onto the flatbed. Crunch, crunch, the more than 2,400 lb tree had caused the axel of the flatbed truck to buckle. The fork lift operator quickly lifted the tree into the air, where it dangled, while discussions went on and on. Finally, Ace Hardware's garden manager called a friend who has a large lawn care business. The friend brought a bigger, heavier flatbed, the tree was loaded on, and brought to the parking lot of the Ace store, where it remained for a few days while plans were finalized to move it to the Botanical Garden, with Ace helpers frequently sprinkling down the huge root ball with water.

Finally, volunteers completed digging the huge whole on the banks of the Michelin Pond at the Botanical Garden, the tree made the last trip to it's new home, 500 lbs of premium potting soil was paced around it's roots, and a berm built to help retain water. As a last touch, the skull was hung on a spike of the rough bark.

(The "bones" of this little story was admittedly plagiarized from articles in the Dothan Eagle)

Then sent to Narnie, who we all know cannot resist adding such wonderful and interesting reading material to her site for all to enjoy!!!