Truro fighting to save collection of tree sculptures

For more than a decade, the town of Truro, N.S. has been known for its collection of tree sculptures, carved from the stately elms of a bygone era.

Time and elements are slowly destroying the sculptures but the town isn’t willing to give them up without a fight.

For the past five years, wood carver Gerry Hale and his helper have been repairing, repainting or replacing parts of the Truro tree carvings.

“My carving has come in very handy, but a lot of it is grunt work, where you have to clean and paint and so on,” says Hale.

The first of the Truro sculptures was carved in 1999 when the town was in the middle of a Dutch elm disease infestation.

Each carving is intended to honour an individual, a place or an event of historical significance. As many as 43 sculptures have been created but now only 18 remain.

“We were thinking they would last between 30 to 50 years with regular maintenance, but unfortunately, you can see what the diameter of what that tree was, most of these trees were a 100-plus years old. A lot of them had internal decay at the time of their removal,” says urban forestry coordinator Andrew Williams.

Repairs and restoration work takes place every year.

“Nothing lasts forever, but I think if they maintain them and keep some of the vandalism under control, I’m not concerned about the 18 remaining,” says tourist Harold Delaney.

For his part, Hale knows that all his work to stop Mother Nature will eventually be for naught.

“The town wants to preserve them as long as they can, but I think it’s a battle that’s one they’re eventually going to lose,” says Hale.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh