Local resident is recognized for black willow on property
This black willow tree on Imlay City resident Eli Greenman’s property is deemed to be the largest in Lapeer County.
IMLAY CITY — Imlay City resident Eli Greenman recently won the prize for having Lapeer County’s largest tree in ReLeaf Michigan’s “Big Tree Hunt.”
The giant black willow on Greenman’s property was measured to have a circumference of 108.5 inches.
The award recipient was feted at this year’s Big Tree Hunt held at the Chippewa Nature Center in Midland.
More than 650 entries were submitted by Michigan residents from 79 of Michigan’s 83 counties.
The winning entries were subject to on-site verification by professional arborists and foresters.
In this case, verification was provided by Big Tree Hunt representative Lindsay Lights Forintos, who visited Greenman’s property to officially measure the tree’s circumference.
“I visited Eli’s tree on a tree verifying adventure across seven counties,” Forintos said. “Eli’s tree was the biggest nominated in Lapeer county and won! Eli and family even came to our awards ceremony to represent Lapeer county’s biggest tree.
“The connection between each person and their tree, or trees in general, is clearly strong and meaningful,” she concluded.
Certificates and prizes were awarded in several categories, including overall largest tree, largest Eastern White Pine (Michigan’s state tree), and for other potential state champion trees.
For information about ReLeaf Michigan, call 517-507-1533 or email bigtreehunt@releafmichigan.org
Tom Wearing started at the Tri-City Times in 1989, covering the Village of Capac as a beat reporter. He later served stints as assistant editor and editor. Today, he covers Imlay City and Almont as a staff writer. He enjoys music and plays drums and sings with various musical groups in the Detroit Metropolitan area.
